LIBRAEY 

(Theological  Jkminavjj, 

\CETON,  N.  J. 

BX  7233  .C5  1836  v. 3 
Clark,  Daniel  A.  1779-1840 
Sermons 


' 


Vhe  John   M.   !irel>*  Dnuntion.        V 


, 


CLARK'S     W  O  II  K  S 


IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 


SERMONS. 


By    Rev.    DANIEL   A/CLARK, 

Author  of  "  Conference  Sermons,"  "  Church  Safe,1'  cjc.  <frc. 


IN    THREE   VOLUMES. 


VOL.    Ill 


; Preach  the  preaching  that  Ibid  thee." 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN  S.  TAYLOR, 

Brick  Church  Chape). 
»•• 

1837. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1836, 

BY  DANIEL  A.  CLARK,  A.M. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  for  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


HENRY  LUDVVIG,  PRINTER. 


OPINIONS   OF   THE   PRESS. 


From  the  New-York  Observer  of  November  19,  1836. 
Rev.  D.  Jl.  Clark's  Works. — I  was  truly  happy  to  see  the  notice  of 
the  publication  of  "  Clark's  Works,"  or  three  volumes  of  Sermons,  by 
Rev.  Daniel  A.  Clark.  No  one,  I  presume,  whose  conscience  has  ever 
been  probed  by  his  searching  appeals,  or  whose  heart  lias  ever  been 
warmed  by  his  fervid  and  glowing  piety,  or  whose  spirit  has  ever  been 
overwhelmed  by  his  melting  eloquence,  or  whose  sense  of  duty  has  ever 
been  quickened  by  his  forcible  and  practical  illustrations,  but  must  re- 
joice in  the  privilege  of  reading  at  his  leisure,  and  praying  ever  in  se- 
cret, such  productions  of  such  a  man. 

Mr.  Clark  is  so  well  and  so  extensively  known  to  the  American 
churches,  that  nothing  need  be  said  to  recommend  him  or  his  writings. 
He  has  been  justly  styled  one  of  the  best  practical  writers  of  the  age, 
and  I  do  hope  that  every  minister  will  procure  his  sermons  as  a  model, 
and  every  Christian  for  his  own  benefit,  to  help  him  on  to  heaven. 

EVANGELICUS. 

From  the  New  York  Mirror  of  October  29,  1836. 
Mr.  John  S.  Taylor,  of  the  Brick  church  chapel,  has  issued  the  se- 
cond volume  of  Sermons  of  the  Reverend  Daniel  A.  Clark's;  they  are 
written  with  all  the  elegance  of  Blair,  with  the  depth  and  energy  of 
Sherlock  and  Horsley  ;  and  are  an  eloquent  appeal  to  Christians  of 
every  denomination,  urging  the  great  and  fundamental  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  vividly  impressing  the  moral  and  essential  points  of  a  be- 
liever's actions  and  doctrines. 

From  the  New-York  Evangelist. 
Clark's  Works. — There  are  some  books  which  will  be  read  by  every 
body  in  a  few  weeks  after  they  leave  the  press,  and  then  laid  aside, 
and  three  years  afterward  little  or  nothing  is  known  or  said  about 
them.  There  are  others  that  more  gradual  y  attract  the  public  atten- 
tion, and  when  this  is  once  secured  the  hold  is  permanent ;  they  are 
transmitted  from  father  to  son,  and  from  the  venerable  grandsire  to 


VI  OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

children's  children,  and  one  edition  after  another  is  demanded,  till  their 
record  is  indelible  on  the  catalogue  of  our  choicest  standard  works. — 
Among  this  latter  class  we  rank,  without  hesitation,  the  writings  of  the 
Reverend  Daniel  A.  Clark.     Of  his  three  volumes  of  sermons,  the 

writer  of  this  article  has  had  opportunity  of  examining  only  the  first ; 

and  of  this  he  is  prepared  to  speak  in  strong  terms  of  approbation.  It 
is  well  known  that  Father  Clark  never  permits  any  work  in  which  he 
engages  to  decrease  in  interest ;  therefore  we  may  have  the  utmost  con- 
fidence respecting  the  worth  of  the  other  two  volumes.  But  his  ser- 
mons must  be  studied  that  they  may  be  duly  appreciated.  You  will  bo 
far  from  doing  them  justice  if  you  simply  take  them  up  hastily,  glance 
at  the  texts,  the  plans,  and  the  concluding  sentences,  and  then  pass 
your  judgment. 

You  must  take  them  to  your  retired  room,  read  them  deliberately 
and  prayerfully,  and  they  will  instruct  you  ;  you  will  love  them,  and 
will  feel  gratified  to  find  leisure  to  reperuse  them.  In  the  writings  of 
D.  A.Clark,  you  will  seldom  find  any  extraordinary  things  said,  but 
you  will  find  common  truths  presented  in  such  a  manner  that  every 
one  must  feel  and  remember  them.  Let  me  refer  to  one  sentence  to 
illustrate  this  last  remark,  (vol. i.  p.  123,)  "The  cause  of  temperance 
moved  on  briskly  till  it  was  discovered  that  the  church  held  in  her  fel- 
lowship those  who  would  drink  the  cup  of  devils,  but  has  stayed  in  its 
march  till  she  can  have  lime  to  entomb  her  inebriates.''''  Here  we  have 
nothing  but  the  common-place  idea,  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  in  the 
church  retards  the  temperance  reformation  ;  but  his  mode  of  expressing 
this  makes  the  whole  world  pause,  gazing  on  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  she  bears  to  the  sepulchre  the  besotted  obstacles  of  reform.  Once 
have  this  figrue  before  us,  and  it  is  impossible  to  forget  it.  It  is  my 
prayer  that  I  may  see  these  sermons  in  the  house  of  each  one  of  my 
parishioners,  and  I  trust  that  this  is  the  desire  of  not  a  few  ministers. 

J.  R.  J. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

42.  The  sinner's  desperate  depravity, 9 

43.  The  Christian's  best  friend  aggrieved,       24 

44.  Terms  of  Divine  acceptance, 41 

45.  Christ  conducts  to  heaven  a  holy  people, 59 

46.  Christ  must  have  his  own  place  in  his  gospel, 75 

47.  The  law  and  the  gospel  conjointly  sustained, 92 

43.  Impenitent  men  destitute  of  holiness, 106 

49.  Only  one  true  God, 120 

50.  The  Church  with  all  her  interests  safe, 135 

51.  The  Index  Sure— No.  1, 157 

52.  The  Index  Sure— No.  2, 169 

'53.  The  wise  man  wise  for  futurity, ISO 

54.  The  desperate  effort, 204 

55.  Concio  ad  Clerum, 219 

56.  The  mercies  of  God  not  obediently  reciprocated, 235 

57.  The  industrious  young  prophets, 257 

58.  Sinners  in  the  hands  of  an  angry  God, 283 

59.  An  Address— The  influence  of  a  good  taste  upon  the  moral 

affections, 301 


SERMON    XLII. 

THE   SINNER'S    DESPERATE   DEPRAVITY. 

Jeremiah  iii.  5. 
Behold,  thou  hast  spoken  and  done  evil  things  as  thou  couldest. 

This  passage  evidently  teaches  the  doctrine,  that  mew 
are  as  depraved  as  they  can  be  in  present  circum- 
stances. The  charge  is  made  by  the  infinitely  Holy 
One,  and  can  be  fully  substantiated  against  every  mem- 
ber of  the  unregenerate  family.  The  justice  of  the 
charge  may  appear  from  a  consideration  of  the  following 
positions : 

I.  That  God  in  his  providence  has  surrounded  the 
sinner  with  many  circumstances  operating  powerfully 
to  modify  human  character. 

II.  That  by  these  circumstances  every  sinner  is  actu- 
ally restrained  in  his  wickedness,  and  held  back  in  his 
downward  career. 

III.  That  every  sinner  does  make  the  attempt,  and 
succeeds  as  far  as  God  will  let  him,  to  sunder  these  liga- 
tures that  would  hold  him  fast  to  reason,  hope,  and 
heaven. 

Among  the  circumstances  which  illustrate  the  first  po- 
siton,  I  mention, 

1.  Education.  This  makes  Christendom  differ  from 
the  dark  places  of  the  earth,  which  are  full  of  the  habi- 
tations of  cruelty.  This  makes  the  same  land  differ 
from  what  it  was  while  a  land  of  idolatry.     This  makes 

2 


10  DESPERATE   DEPRAVITY. 

us  to  differ  from  our  forefathers  when  under  the  super- 
stition and  tyranny  of  the  Druids.  This  occasions  the 
difference  between  us  and  the  savage  of  the  western 
wilds.  Education,  then,  operates  greatly  in  modifying 
character,  and  in  preventing  men  from  being  as  bad  as 
they  would  be. 

2.  Human  law  has  a  similar  effect.  How  near  right, 
think  you,  would  men  be,  if  they  were  not  controlled  by 
human  laws  1  Look  at  some  country  while  in  a  state 
of  anarchy.  Look  at  some  city  or  village  where  the  in- 
fluence of  law  is  suspended.  Look  at  France,  while 
under  the  reign  of  terror,  when  law  was  abrogated,  and 
see  one  company  after  another  pass  under  the  guillotine  ; 
and  the  executioners  of  to-day  the  victims  of  to-morrow  ; 
and,  tell  us,  is  not  character  greatly  modified  by  muni- 
cipal law  1 

3.  By  the  law  of  God.  If  men  have  no  other  belief 
in  it,  but  that  which  may  be  denominated  the  faith  of 
history,  it  still  greatly  modifies  human  character.  Men 
have  been  sorry  a  thousand  times  that  God  ever  issued 
his  law.  They  have  hated  to  read,  "  Thou  shaft  have 
no  other  gods  before  me."  They  have  been  sorry  to 
read,  "Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy;" 
'•  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery  ;  "  Thou  shalt  not 
kill ;"  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal ,"  &c.  But  men  have  been 
in  a  measure  restrained  by  these  laws,  while  they  have 
hated  the  Lawgiver,  and  despised  his  statutes. 

4.  The  troublesome  supervision  of  conscience  has 
greatly  modified  human  character.  This  everlasting 
censorship,  while  it  has  held  men  back  from  sin,  has  been 
hated,  and  warred  against,  and  scowled  upon,  by  the 
whole  human  family. 

5.  The  whole  Gospel, — the  law  drawn  out  into  offensive 
interference  with  the  sinful  pleasures  and  follies  of  men, 


DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY.  11 

has  modified  human  character  beyond  all  calculation. 
It  so  commends  itself  to  their  reason,  and  applies  such 
power  to  their  consciences,  that  it  becomes  exceedingly 
difficult  to  withstand  it.  It  is  so  tender,  majestic,  com- 
manding, and  reasonable,  that  it  for  a  time  melts  and 
overawes  many  who  ultimately  reject  all  its  provisions. 

6.  All  the  Gospel  institutions — the  Sabbath,  the  Sanc- 
tuary, the  church-going  bell,  the  Lord's  supper,  the  or- 
dinance of  baptism,  every  thing  associated  with  Chris- 
tian worship,  operates  in  modifying  human  character,  and 
rendering  it,  in  appearance,  better  than  it  is. 

7.  The  desire  of  heaven  has  the  same  effect.  None, 
perhaps,  are  so  abandoned  as  not  to  hope  that  they  may, 
after  all,  live  and  be  happy  after  death.  The  bare  pos- 
sibility that  they  shall  reach  heaven,  and  wish  to  unite 
in  the  song  of  redemption,  prevents  them  from  being  as 
wicked  as  they  would  be.  This  operates  as  a  powerful 
restraint,  and  helps  greatly  to  modify  character. 

8.  The  fear  of  hell,  also,  holds  back  many  from  the 
commission  of  crime.  Men  are  afraid  that  what  they 
have  heard  respecting  hell  is  true.  Though  the  subject 
often  excites  their  unhallowed  mirth,  it  is  a  mirth  which 
has  its  misgivings.  Their  very  laughter  betrays  their 
fears.  And  though  they  trifle  with  the  thought  of  ever- 
lasting burnings,  it  is  with  the  manifest  design  of  keeping 
their  courage  up.  The  fear  of  hell  thus  operates  in 
modifying  the  character,  perhaps  even  of  the  most 
worldly. 

9.  The  expectation  of  a  judgment  has  the  same  effect 
They  have  some  apprehension  that  they  may  be  called 
to  answer  at  the  bar  of  God  for  their  deeds  on  earth. 
They  have  "  a  fearful  looking  for  "  of  this  dread  reality. 
They  think  it  may  be  true  that  God  will  bring  them  into 
judgment,  for  every  work,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil;  and 


12  DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY. 

apportion  his  awards  accordingly.  And  hence,  this  ap- 
prehension serves  as  a  wonderful  restraint  upon  their 
character. 

10.  Public  sentiment  is  a  great  preventive  of  crime. 
Men  are  so  constituted  as  to  be  obliged  to  respect  public 
sentiment.  They  cannot  endure  the  indignation  of  a 
whole  community  ;  and  public  sentiment  in  Christian 
lands  favours  virtue,  and  frowns  on  vice.  The  assassin 
is  thus  disarmed — the  thief  becomes  honest — the  swin- 
dler pays  his  debts — because  public  sentiment  compels 
him.  No  one  has  daring  enough  to  be  utterly  indifferent 
to  the  good  opinion  of  all  his  acquaintance  ;  and  charac- 
ter is  thus  greatly  modified. 

11.  The  domestic  affections  produce  the  same  result. 
The  silken  cords  which  entwine  around  the  family  cir- 
cle, prevent  the  commission  of  many  a  crime.  The 
father,  the  husband,  the  mother,  the  wife,  the  son,  ihe 
brother,  the  daughter,  the  sister -all  the  endeared  rela- 
tions which  the  members  of  a  family  sustain  to  each 
other,  and  which  are  strengthened  every  day,  operate 
greatly  in  the  formation  of  character.  How  many  a 
son  has  been  saved  from  ruin,  through  the  affection 
which  he  bore  to  his  mother  ?  How  often  has  a  sister's 
entreaties  tamed  the  ferocious  spirit  of  a  brother,  and  ren- 
dered it  yielding  and  lovely. 

Thus  we  see  how  curbed  men  often  are,  while  in  their 
native  state.  This  world,  then,  is  in  disguise.  God, 
who  only  knows  the  full  influence  of  these  modifying 
circumstances,  knows  what  is  in  man.  Therefore,  when 
he  looks  down  from  heaven,  he  still  pronounces  "  the 
whole  head  sick,  and  the  whole  heart  faint,"  "  every 
imagination  of  the  thoughts  evil,"  specious  appearances 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Thus  we  have  recounted  some  of  the  circumstances 


DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY.  13 

which  modify  the  human  character.  These  are.  indeed, 
of  vast  importance.  They  result  in  what  we  term  civi- 
lity, good  morals  &c. — all  bearing  kindly  upon  the 
present  condition  of  man.  They  all  speak  the  wisdom 
and  kindness  of  God, — they  are  so  many  golden  chains 
let  down  to  earth,  to  modify  its  moral  corruptions.  God 
is  good  in  every  such  ligature,  by  which  he  holds  men 
within  the  reach  of  that  blessed  influence,  which  can 
sanctify  and  make  them  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  in- 
heritance of  the  saints  in  light.  We  ought,  then,  to 
thank  God  for  these  modifying  circumstances,  and  pray 
that  he  would  put  these  chains  all  on,  and  keep  them 
on,  till  even  the  vilest  and  most  obdurate  shall  yield  to 
his  infinite  love.  We  ought  to  view  men  in  more  hope- 
ful circumstances,  in  proportion  as  God  shall  hold  them 
by  these  moral  bonds.  For,  while  a  young  man  respects 
the  Sabbath,  and  is  obedient  to  his  parents,  there  is  more 
hope  of  him  than  afterwards.  While  he  is  afraid  to 
swear,  we  may  hope  that  he  will  begin  to  pray.  While 
he  dare  not  avow  open  infidelity,  we  may  hope,  if  we 
do  our  duty,  that  he  will  yet  believe  revealed  truth,  to 
the  saving  of  his  soul. 

II.  By  these  circumstances  every  sinner  is  actually 
restrained  in  his  wickedness,  and  held  back  in  his  down- 
ward career.     In  proof  of  which  we  observe, 

1.  Men  are  uneasy  under  these  circumstances  ;  which 
shows  them  to  be  restraints.  Let  men  be  unrestrained, 
and  they  will  be  easy.  It  is  only  pain  of  some  kind 
that  renders  them  uneasy,  and  willing  to  change' their 
position.  Hence  they  will  not  come  to  the  light,  lest  their 
deeds  should  be  reproved. 

2.  Men  are  constantly  trying  to  alter  their  circumstan- 
ces.    But  they  are  too  indolent  by  nature  to  try  to  alter 

2* 


14  DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY. 

their  circumstances,  unless  they  are  circumstances  of 
restraint. 

So  when  a  raging  fever  burns, 
They  shift  from  side  to  side  by  turns; 
And  'tis  a  poor  relief  they  gain, 
To  change  the  place,  but  keep  the  pain. 

3.  When  men  at  length  alter  their  circumstances 
in  any  of  these  respects,  they  often  show  out  a  worse 
character ;  manifesting  what  they  would  have  been 
before,  if  they  might,  if  these  restraints  had  been  sun- 
dered, and  they  let  loose  upon  the  world. 

4.  When  these  restraints  are  all  removed,  men  are 
uniformly  far  more  wicked  than  if  they  had  not  been 
imposed.  All  will  admit  this.  It  is  therefore  manifest 
that  these  circumstances  operate  powerfully  in  restrain- 
ing men  from  a  career  of  sin  and  ruin.  Even  in  the 
church  itself  there  are  vast  multitudes  who  become  apos- 
tates, because  their  apparent  goodness  was  made  up  by 
such  restraints  :  they  had  really  no  concern  for  the  glory 
of  God,  and  were  not  religious  because  they  loved  reli- 
gion. Beware,  then,  lest  you  be  left  to  fall  away  from 
your  supposed  faith,  and  hurry  on  to  destruction.  Not 
only  should  professors  fear,  but  the  impenitent  also  should 
fear  and  tremble  ;  because  God  holds  them  as  account- 
able beings,  completely  in  his  power,  and  in  kindness, 
for  a  time,  lets  down  ten  thousand  restraints  upon  them. 
God  now  controls  the  madness  of  his  enemies.  He  puts 
his  hook  in  their  nose,  and  his  bridle  in  their  lips  ;  binds 
them  with  his  restraints  ;  and  holds  them,  perhaps,  in 
apparent  subjection  In  this  the  character  of  hypocrites 
and  unbelievers  is  distinguished  from  the  truly  religious. 
Their  wickedness  is  merely  suppressed,  not  subdued  : 
their  amiable  appearances  are  produced  by  restraining 
providence,  not  by  converting  grace.     The  heart  of  the 


DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY.  15 

real  Christian  is  not  suppressed,  but  radically  changed. 
The  grace  of  God  has  transformed  the  tiger  into  a  lamb, 
and  the  wolf  into  a  kid.  The  Christian  abandons  sin 
because  he  hates  it,  and  follows  after  holiness  because  he 
loves  it.  This  constitutes  the  beauty  of  the  Christian 
character,  and  this  the  distinguishing  glory  of  heaven. 
There  will  be  there  no  restraint  but  love.  The  whole  popu- 
lation will  love  to  do  right ;  and  impelled  by  love  alone, 
will  employ,  in  doing  right,  their  energies  forever.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  the  character  of  the  wicked  is  here  va- 
ried and  modified  by  restraints,  God  will  only  need  to 
take  off  these  moral  ligatures,  and  substitute  the  ever- 
lasting chains  of  darkness,  to  surround  them  with  the 
horrors  of  hell.  The  exceeding  baseness  of  the  wicked 
appears  in  this — that  all  these  powerful  restraints  are  re- 
quired to  hold  them  fast  in  mercy,  and  prevent  them  from 
doing  worse  ;  and  the  horror  of  hell  in  this — that  all  its 
population  will  love  to  do  wrong,  and  in  wrath  be  let 
loose  to  do  it,  so  far  as  they  can  amidst  fetters  which  will 
hold  fast  only  to  gall,  and  chains  which  will  confine  only 
to  burn.  How  amazing,  in  view  of  all  these  considera- 
tions, is  the  operation  of  these  providential  circumstances 
in  restraining  the  career  of  the  wicked  !  We  are  thus 
prepared  to  consider  the  remaining  position :  viz  : 

III.  That  every  sinner  does  make  the  attempt,  and 
succeeds  as  far  as  God  will  let  him,  to  sunder  these  liga- 
tures that  would  hold  him  fast  to  reason,  hope,  and. 
heaven. 

One  would  think  that  a  sinner  would  not  wish  to  have 
these  kindly  ligatures  sundered.  Where  may  he  wander, 
or  rather  where  may  he  not  wander,  and  against  what 
rock  may  he  not  dash,  and  into  what  bottomless  vortex 
may  he  not  plunge  with  all  his  interests,  and  perish  with 
his  all,  when  he  shall  have  thrown  off  the  fastenings 


16  DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY. 

that  hold  him  to  the  throne  of  the  Eternal  ?  While  we 
go  the  ground  over,  and  see  how  he  raves,  and  rages3 
and  flounces  like  a  bull  in  the  net,  and  would  break  loose 
from  God,  if  he  might,  whatever  be  the  probable  result 
upon  himself,  and  his  hopes,  and  his  family,  and  his 
character,  and  whatever  the  relationship  he  must  sunder, 
we  are  amazed  at  every  step  of  the  experiment,  and  we 
are  amazed  at  the  result,  and  at  the  blindness  of  the  im- 
mortal being  that  is  in  a  measure  let  loose  to  try  his  skill 
in  the  awful  experiment,  till  God  gives  him  up  to  hard- 
ness of  heart  and  blindness  of  mind,  and  leaves  him  a  prey 
to  himself,  and  he  is  destroyed  in  his  own  waywardness. 
Let  us,  then,  trace  his  steps,  and  see  his  ravings  : 

1.  See  how  he  breaks  over  and  breaks  through  the 
restraints  of  education.  He  tries  to  throw  off  what  he 
knew  of  God,  and  all  he  had  learned  of  the  Saviour, 
and  of  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  all  he  had 
learned  of  the  operations  of  the  Godhead,  in  the  history 
of  the  church.  And  when  he  cannot  forget,  he  raves  at 
his  own  recollections,  and  madly  reproaches  the  mind 
that  cannot  forget,  and  will  not  retrace  and  throw  off  what 
it  is  now  to  him  a  burden  and  curse  to  recollect.  But 
the  Bible  rushes  upon  his  unholy  mind  with  the  vividness 
of  a  new,  and  fresh,  and  hated  story.  O,  that  he  had 
never  read  that  book  !  he  cries  ;  that  his  mother  had  not 
furnished  him  a  Bible  when  he  left  his  home,  or  had 
not  made  him  promise  to  read  it  every  day  !  But  if  in 
his  senses  he  may  not  forget,  perhaps  he  may  induce 
God  to  put  out  his  mind,  and  destroy  the  powers  of  recol- 
lection. And  this  is  now  the  only  prayer  he  makes, 
and  the  only  thing  he  cares  for.  In  the  mean  time  he 
hates  the  very  lessons  that  he  learned  in  school,  and 
would  tread  them  all  down  as  one  does  the  worthless 
weeds  that  are  overgrowing  his  path  in  a  garden.     But, 


DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY.  17 

2.  When  he  has  tried  for  a  time,  but  has  tried  in 
vain,  to  retrace  the  process  of  education,  he  finds  himself 
reined  in  by  human  laws.  If  he  cannot  forget  God,  per- 
haps he  can  snap  asunder  the  power  of  human  control. 
Man  cannot  be  omniscient.  He  can  evade  all  human 
ties.  He  can  rise  above  the  law,  and  tread  it  down  like 
the  mire  of  the  street.  Or  he  can  violate  its  precepts  and 
despise  its  regulations,  and  hold  on  and  hold  out  in  de- 
spite of  all  its  sanctions,  presuming  in  his  heart  that  God 
will  not  know,  neither  will  the  Almighty  consider  it. 
If  the  law  does  say,  "  Thou  shaft  not  violate  the  rest 
of  the  Sabbath,"  he  can  drink  and  carouse,  or  lounge 
and  loiter  and  the  world  will  only  esteem  him  the  better, 
especially  if  he  add  generosity  and  liberality  to  his  infi- 
delity and  to  his  deeds  of  daring  and  outrage.  He  may 
violate  any  law  that  lays  its  restraints  on  this  side  of  the 
judgment.  Perhaps  there  may  come  no  day  of  hated 
and  holy  retribution,  and  then  he  can  have  the  infernal 
satisfaction  of  laughing  at  the  Christians.  If  the  failure 
of  the  divine  promise  of  such  a  day  should  ruin  the  world, 
it  will  not,  as  he  conceives,  ruin  him.  He  would  be 
willing  that  no  such  appointment  should  be  fulfilled, 
even  though  the  failure  should  tarnish  forever  the  charac- 
ter of  Jehovah.  If  the  law  does  say,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery,"  if  he  can  violate  it,  and  the  crime  be 
hid,  and  no  human  tribunal  take  cognizance  of  the  deed, 
he  cares  not  for  the  law.  He  cares  not  what  misery  his  ini- 
quities occasion,  if  his  deeds  do  not  break  into  open  day- 
light. If  it  break  the  heart  of  a  mother,  and  if  a 
father  writhe  under  the  agony  of  a  ruined  son,  he  does 
not  care  for  the  tears  of  thatmother,  nor  the  agonies  of  that 
father.  The  deed  he  has  done  he  does  not  intend  shall 
come  to  light,  in  the  present  life,  and  he  can  easily  bring 
himself  to  care  for  nothing  beyond.     Thus  he  throws  off 


J  8  DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY. 

nearly  all  the  restraints  of  human  law,  and  contents 
himself  with  the  purpose  never  to  commit  murder,  or 
theft,  or  any  crime  that  would  draw  him  out  to  the  light. 
Thus  he  blesses  himself  in  his  own  delusion,  and  trusts 
for  safety  in  his  own  righteousness.  But  he  meets  with 
more  disturbance  yet. 

3.  From  the  law  of  God.  Impenitent  and  unbeliev- 
ing, he  has  read  in  that  law  what  if  he  cannot  put  down, 
he  is  a  ruined  man  :  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods 
before  me/'  Thus  is  dashed,  at  the  first  stroke,  the 
whole  fabric  of  a  dark  and  fatal  idolatry.  If  man  wor- 
ships his  money,  or  his  merchandise,  or  his  farm,  or  his 
friend,  or  any  thing  but  God,  or  gives  any  thing  else 
his  supreme  affection,  even  if  he  does  not  professedly 
worship  it,  he  is  condemned  of  God.  And  he  adds, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God 
in  vain."  But  how  unfashionable  it  would  be  to  care 
about  this  commandment,  and  let  the  apprehension  that 
God  "  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  his  name 
in  vain,"  produce  a  serious  moment,  or  a  pang  of  distress  ! 
It  is  so  noble  not  to  care  about  God,  or  what  God  can 
say,  or  do,  and  it  would  be  so  cowardly,  so  ungentleman- 
ly,  to  be  afraid  to  sin,  that  the  offender  justs  breaks 
this  grand  and  controlling  ligature  easier  than  many 
that  would  seem  to  have  no  such  power  to  bind  and  to 
restrain.  An  effort  not  so  mighty  as  that  which  sun- 
dered Samson's  green  withes,  puts  them  all  aside.     But, 

4.  Not  quite  so  easily  does  he  dispose  of  the  trouble- 
some supervision  of  conscience.  This  vicegerent  of 
Heaven  stays  often  many  a  month  after  open  war  is  de- 
clared. It  sometimes  will  hold  close  conference  with  the 
heart,  although  the  heart  may  wish  to  be  alone.  It  is 
that  power  that  will  not  die,  nor  see  corruption.  It  will 
not  go  to  sleep  in  the  grave :  it  will  watch,  even  while 


DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY.  19 

the  wretch  is  dying,  to  secure  the  honour  of  God,  and 
gather  courage  for  a  fresh  attack  just  by  the  dying  pillow. 
And  the  agony  of  its  first  onset  in  the  unseen  world,  hard 
by  the  place  of  dying,  devils  cannot  know.  For  they 
have  never  spurned  a  dying  Saviour,  and  they  have 
never  died. 

But  all  the  embrasures  that  can  be  opened  upon  the 
soul  by  this  moral  avenger  must  be  closed,  or  its  eternal 
thunders  will  be  heard  and  felt.  Yes,  even  here  the 
heart  sometimes  says  to  conscience,  as  Satan  to  the  Savi- 
our, "  Art  thou  come  to  torment  me  before  the  time  1  " 
But  it  is  the  conflict  of  desperation,  and,  like  the  mur- 
derer who  came  into  close  and  terrible  embrace  with  the 
men  whose  blood  he  would  spill,  and  was  heard  to  say, 
"  You  must  die,"  and  with  that  saying  put  forth  a  thrust 
that  forced  the  dagger  to  his  heart ;  so  in  assailing  con- 
science, to  put  down  its  spirit  of  admonition,  it  must  be 
assailed  desperately,  and  if  the  victory  cannot  be  other- 
wise secured,  it  must  be  drawn  to  the  crater,  where  the 
wretch  stands  to  torment  himself,  and  to  be  hardened  by 
a  view  of  its  fires  ;  and  here  may  perhaps  end  the  con- 
flict, till  it  is  renewed  again  on  the  other  side  of  time. 
Now  there  is  but  little  left  for  the  sinner  to  do.  Con- 
science has  ceased  its  admonitions.  But  still  he  has  a 
slight  conflict. 

5.  With  the  institutions  of  the  Gospel.  We  noticed 
in  his  conflict  with  the  law,  which  spreads  abroad  its 
troublesome  interference  with  his  lusts  and  his  pleasures, 
how  readily  he  could  contrive  to  evade  its  claims.  But 
the  Gospel,  like  some  faithful  party  in  the  field  of  blood, 
still  keeps  up  the  chase,  and  deeply  wounds  at  every  shot. 
It  proves  not  so  easy  as  was  apprehended  to  still  this 
avenger  of  justice.  It  pursues  the  sinner  close  through 
all  the  narrow  lane  of  life,  and  even  down  to  the  gate  of 


20  DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY. 

hell,  unless  sovereign  grace  effectually  interpose,  or  long 
injured  mercy  say,  "  Let  him  alone."  But  see  the  un- 
grateful struggle  of  the  sinner  to  cast  off  this  fastness  of 
heaven — this  Gospel  of  salvation.  Every  church-going 
bell  fills  his  conscience  with  guilt,  and  each  return  of  the 
day  of  rest  reminds  him  of  the  quiet  of  his  paternal  roof, 
where  a  mother's  prayers  used  to  be  joined  with  the  Sab- 
bath day,  in  rendering  the  time  of  rest  too  holy  to  be 
endured.  He  must  pervert  its  holy  design,  or  writhe  and 
bleed  under  the  lashes  of  a  guilty  conscience.  If  he  can 
get  some  scene  of  iniquity  open,  to  prevent  his  soul  from 
thinking  ;  if  the  theatre  may  be  opened,  or  any  other 
house  of  death,  or  he  may  sport  himself  with  the  plea- 
sures of  the  turf,  and  thus  kill  time,  and  throw  off  this 
one  additional  fastness  of  heaven,  and  put  himself  afloat 
upon  the  sea  of  life,  then  he  can  be  comparatively  happy, 
boasting  like  the  school  boy's  kite, — 

See  how  yon  crowd  of  gazing  people 
Admire  my  height  above  the  steeple  ; 
How  woidd  you  wonder,  did  you  know, 
But  what  a  kite  like  I  can  do  ? 

It  tugged  and  pulled,  while  thus  it  spoke, 

To  break  the  string  ;  at  last  it  broke ; 

Deprived  at  once  of  all  its  stay, 

In  vain  it  tried  to  soar  away ; 

Unable  its  own  weight  to  bear, 

It  fluttered  downward  through  the  air; 

Unable  its  own  course  to  guide, 

The  wind  soon  plunged  it  in  the  tide. 

Thus  it  will  not  fail  to  happen  to  the  immortal  being 
who  shall  try  to  do  without  the  Gospel.  He  may  go  off 
from  God,  and  despise  the  power  that  would  pull  him 
back,  but  he  will  go  to  wander  amid  the  blackness  of 
darkness  forever ! 


DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY.  21 

Had  I  time,  I  would  go  on  through  the  whole  catalogue 
of  restraints,  and  show  how,  one  by  one,  the  sinner 
wantonly  throws  them  off.  But  I  can  notice  only  one 
or  two  more  particulars. 

6.  The  hardened  sinner  would  dislodge  himself  from 
all  thought  of  heaven  or  fear  of  hell.  And  yet  these  are 
very  powerful  ligatures,  and  often  the  last  to  be  sundered. 
When  men  think  of  relinquishing  heaven,  they  some- 
times forget  that  awakening  previous  question,  "If  I 
abandon  the  thought  of  heaven,  where  shall  I  then  be  1 
What  means  that  worm  which  never  dies  ?  What  mean 

those  chains  of  darkness — and  that  gnashing  of  teeth 

and  that  quenchless  fire  ?  "  Ah  !  when  the  sinner  is 
arrested  by  such  questions,  and  must  answer  them,  and 
answer  them,  too,  under  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
he  will  find  it  hard  work  to  answer  them  and  sin  on.  The 
throes  produced  will  be  like  those  of  the  second  death ;  and 
whoever  has  tried,  will  not  need  again  to  ask  what  is 
meant  by  the  undying  worm.  That  eternal  separation 
from  the  society  of  the  good,  and  that  imprisonment  with 
the  devil  and  his  angels,  if  it  bites  like  a  serpent  and 
stings  like  an  adder,  when  only  anticipated,— what  will 
the  reality  be  1  I  am  scared  at  my  own  question.  It  will 
be  a  death  that  never  dies — a  living  death  !  But, 

7.  There  is  still  another  thought.  The  signer  must 
have  broken  through  all  the  restraints  of  public  senti- 
ment, before  we  can  know  how  bad  he  would  be ;  and 
this  ligature  he  tries  to  snap  asunder.  But  he  will  find 
that  public  very  populous,  before  he  gets  through.  After 
he  has  gone  his  round  with  mortals,  and  has  learned  not 
to  care  what  men  think  of  his  conduct,  he  must  cease 
too,  to  care  what  is  thought  of  his  deeds,  in  heaven. 
Those  beings  that  have  kept  watch  over  his  pillow  by 
night,  that  have  warded  off  fire  and  pestilence,  or  waked 
3 


22  DESPERATE    DEPRAVITY. 

him  in  time  to  flee,  that  have  loved  his  father  and  mother, 
and  love  them  still  in  heaven, — what  will  they  think  of 
the  puny  worm  who  has  brought  himself  to  despise  them, 
and  sport  with  their  opinion  ?  But  even  this  is  not  all  5 
for  devils,  too,  have  their  opinion.  And  he  must  cease 
to  care  what  they  think  of  him  in  hell.  And  their  judg- 
ment, remember,  is  not  depraved  like  their  hearts.  One 
might  almost  as  well  attempt  to  silence  the  opinion  of 
heaven  as  of  hell.  The  murmurs  of  that  dark  world 
against  the  man  who  casts  its  burning  sentiments  behind 
his  back,  will  be  like  the  distant  roar  of  a  thousand  ca- 
taracts, or  like  the  dashing  of  as  many  icebergs  conflicting 
with  each  other  in  some  boundless  polar  sea.     And, 

Finally  :  there  yet  remains  to  be  noticed  one  of  the 
most  powerful  motives  of  restraint,  the  domestic  affec- 
tions. It  is  impossible  to  guess  what  men  would  be,  till 
they  throw  off  the  hold,  for  instance,  that  a  mother  has 
upon  a  profligate  son.  We  must  recollect  how  John  New- 
ton managed,  and  how  miserable  he  was  while  a  mother 
lived,  to  hold  the  cord  entwined  about  his  heart.  When 
every  other  tie  had  been  sundered,  the  mother  kept  hold 
of  him  by  this, — when  his  character  was  gone,  when  he 
had  descended  to  the  meanness  of  serving  a  black  mistress, 
and  of  eating  his  morsel  from  her  leavings — when  her 
favour  was  life  to  him,  and  her  frown  filled  him  with 
despair,  and  he  had  no  other  friend— then  he  remem- 
bered a  mother's  counsels  and  a  mother's  prayers  ;  and 
then  and  there  gave  his  heart  to  the  Saviour.  There, 
from  Africa's  dark  soil,  and  from  a  condition  and  character 
darker  still,  he  first  lifted  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and  began 
to  breathe  eternal  life :  and  he  lives  now,  and  sings 
redeeming  grace  in  heaven,  and  tells  in  every  song  how 
hard  it  is  for  a  sinner  to  conflict  with  the  restraints  of 
infinite  love. 


DESPERATE  DEPRAVITY.  23 

But  all  these  are  a  part  only  of  the  circumstances,  the 
restraints,  that  go  to  modify  human  character ;  all  of 
which  the  sinner  deliberately  strives  to  neutralize.  And 
if  in  nothing  else  he  has  shown  a  character  bad  as  lan- 
guage can  describe,  or  actions  prove,  he  has  given  a  cli- 
max of  the  whole  in  his  attempts  to  sunder  all  such  ties 
and  cut  himself  loose  from  God,  and  from  the  whole 
family  of  kindly  influences  that  would  save  his  soul 
from  death. 

Such  is  the  obstinacy,  the  rebelliousness,  the  ingrati- 
tude of  the  sinner.  Must  he  not,  then,  be  born  again — 
have  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit — or  never  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God. 


SERMON    XLIII. 
THE  CHRISTIAN'S  EEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED. 

Ephesians  iv.'  30. 
Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

If  I  must  doubt  whether  there  be  a  trinity  of  persons 
in  the  Godhead,  I  should  question  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  distinct  personality  of  the  three  that 
bear  record  in  heaven,  seems  to  me  as  plain  a  truth  as 
any  other  in  the  whole  Bible,  and  cannot  be  rejected 
without  the  danger  of  going  into  infidelity.  In  the 
mysterious  division  of  the  work  of  redemption,  it  became 
the  business  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  make  the  sinner  wil- 
ling, in  the  day  of  God's  power,  to  renew  and  sanctify 
the  heart,  and  quicken  to  spiritual  life  and  action,  the 
dead  in  sin.  And  after  he  has  begun  eternal  life  in  his 
people,  he  dwells  in  their  hearts,  and  is  there  a  well  of 
water  springing  up  to  everlasting  life. 

The  Holy  Spirit  was  promised  to  the  apostles  under 
the  title  of  the  Comforter,  and  has  exerted  his  agency  in 
every  conversion  since  there  was  a  church,  and  been  the 
guide  to  heaven  of  every  child  of  the  apostac)'",  who 
has  gone  and  took  his  seat  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb.  If  there  is  in  any  mind  a  heavenly  thought,  or 
in  any  heart  a  holy  volition,  it  is  all  the  work  of  that  di- 
vine agent.  Hence  his  favour  is  life.  One  had  better 
grieve  every  friend  he  has,  and  wander  homeless,  and 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED.  25 

die  deserted,  with  none  to  watch  him  or  pray  for  him,  or 
bury  him,  than  to  grieve  the  holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  be 
abandoned  of  him. 

I  have  supposed  that  grieving  the  Spirit  of  God,  was 
a  deed  that  none  but  Christians  can  do.  The  enemies 
of  God  may  resist  his  Spirit,  and  may  quench  his  Spirit, 
but  his  people  only  can  grieve  him.  So  it  is,  you  know, 
in  human  affairs  ;  an  enemy  may  insult  us  and  offend 
us,  a.  friend  it  is  that  grieves  us. 

It  will  be  my  object  to  show  how  the  people  of  God 
may  grieve  his  Spirit,  and  what  the  consequences  that 
must  follow. 

I.  How  may  the  people  of  God  grieve  his  /Spirit  ? 

1.  When  they  limit  his  ability  or  his  willingness 
to  bless  them.  The  Spirit  of  God  has  done  so  much  for 
them  already,  that  all  cause  of  fear,  as  to  what  he  can 
do,  and  will  do,  if  they  are  ready,  is  out  of  place.  It  was 
a  great  sin  in  Israel,  after  they  had  witnessed  the  won- 
ders done  in  Egypt,  and  had  seen  the  water  of  the  Red 
Sea  divide,  to  make  them  a  passage,  to  have  any  doubt 
whether  he  could  enable  them  to  subdue  the  Anakims, 
and  whether  he  would  give  them  water  to  drink  and 
flesh  to  eat. 

But  that  people,  when  they  limited  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,  had  not  seen  more  illustrious  displays  of  the  might 
and  the  mercy  of  their  Deliverer,  than  have  the  people 
of  God  in  these  days,  of  the  amazing  power  and  grace 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  who  could  subdue  your  hearts, 
ye  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  what  can  he  not  do  for 
youl  He  who  could  awaken  you,  when  you  was  pur- 
posed in  your  heart  that  you  would  never  see  the  danger 
you  was  in  ;  who  could  uncover  to  you  the  destruction 
that  way-laid  you ;  who  could  convict  you  of  sin.  of 

3* 


26  the  christian's  best  friend  aggrieved. 

righteousness,  and  of  judgment  to  come,  when  you  had 
carefully  barred  every  avenue  that  would  admit  the  light ; 
could  bring  you  to  a  Saviour's  feet,  and  make  you  his 
willing  captives  ;  what  is  there  now  that  he  cannot  do 
for  you  ?  What  lust  can  he  not  conquer,  and  what  foe 
of  yours  can  he  not  bring  to  the  ground  and  lay  low  at 
your  feet  ?  How  can  you  doubt  a  moment  of  his  ability 
and  his  mercy,  to  guide  you,  and  keep  you  unto  ever- 
lasting life  ? 

And  after  the  precious  instances  of  revival  that  you 
have  witnessed,  and  the  power  displayed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  in  subduing  to  love  and  obedience  the  basest  of 
men,  and  bringing  scores  of  the  ungodly  to  yield  to  the 
force  of  truth,  and  become  willing  in  the  day  of  God's 
power  ;  how  can  you  doubt  but  he  can  give  you  other 
precious  revivals,  and  renew  to  you  the  scenes  you  have 
witnessed,  and  more  yet  7  What  other  proofs  can  he 
give  but  that  which  he  has  given,  that  you  have  only  to 
be  ready  and  he  will  do  his  wonders  before  your  eyes, 
till  you  are  satisfied  ?  And  there  is  no  sinner  you  pray 
for  but  he  can  be  melted  and  subdued,  and  moulded  over 
into  a  humble  and  devoted  and  heavenly-minded  Chris- 
tian 1  And  his  willingness  to  operate  is  commensurate 
with  his  ability.  If  he  would  help  you  when  you  felt 
that  you  could  not  do  without  him,  and  give  those  tokens 
of  his  mercy  that  you  felt  that  you  must  have  or  die, 
why  will  he  not  do  the  same  again  ?  If  you  have  sinned, 
and  do  not  deserve  his  interposing  mercy,  so  you  had 
when  he  did  interpose  the  last  time.  When  you  prayed 
for  that  child  that  he  did  save,  you  went  to  him  as  a 
poor  sinner,  not  deserving  at  all  the  mercy  you  asked, 
and  why  not  expect  that  the  Spirit  of  God  will  as  readily 
operate  now  as  then?  Why  then  should  we  limit,  and 
thus  grieve  the  holy  one  ?     If  such  has  been  the  power 


THE  CHRISTIAN  S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED.  27 

and  the  mercy  of  the  divine  operations  in  days  past,  that 
the  highest  faith  is  due,  and  there  is  the  broadest  founda- 
tion for  confidence  that  the  Spirit  will  operate  as  soon  as 
we  are  ready,  why  should  Christians  grieve  him  by  limit- 
ing his  power  and  his  mercy. 

2.  They  grieve  him  when  they  expect  their  comforts 
from  any  other  source.  The  people  of  God  often  try 
to  be  happy  without  him.  There  are  so  many  channels 
through  which  joy  is  communicated  to  the  heart,  that 
we  are  prone  to  forget  its  source.  We  may,  by  this 
means,  be  guilty  of  an  idolatry,  though  not  as  gross,  yet 
as  offensive  to  the  Spirit  of  God  as  the  temporary  worship 
of  Mammon  or  Moloch.  This  is  the  case  when  even 
means  of  grace  are  trusted  in  as  sure  to  communicate  com- 
fort. We  may  idolize  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  the 
Sabbath,  the  ordinances,  the  place  of  prayer,  and  even  the 
closet.  In  young  converts  nothing  is  more  common 
than  the  deep  assurance,  that  the  same  place,  the  same 
practice,  and  the  same  pew,  will  produce  the  same  bless- 
edness. And  often  it  is  not  till  after  many  a  sore  dis- 
appointment, that  they  are  taught  to  repair  immediately 
to  him  whose  influence  is  life  and  peace.  God  would  have 
us  estimate  the  means,  and  set  a  price  as  high  as  he  has 
upon  every  medium  of  holy  joy.  But  when  we  forget, 
as  we  are  prone  to  forget,  that,  we  must  go  a  little  beyond 
the  watchman,  before  we  shall  find  him  whom  our  soul 
loveth ;  must  pass  through  the  means  and  there  is  joy, 
and  there  is  God,  then  is  the  Spirit  grieved.  His  divine 
agency  is  undervalued,  and  the  joy  he  would  communi- 
nicate  is  withheld,  till  we  are  made  to  feel  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  must  operate,  or  every  means  must  lose  its  in- 
fluence. 

3.  It  is  equally  true  that  we  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God, 
when  we  neglect  the  means  of  grace.     There  is  an  es- 


23  the  christian's  best  friend  aggrieved. 

tablished  process,  by  which  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  ordi- 
narily comforts  his  people.  Almost  all  his  joys,  and 
probably,  did  we  know  more  fully  the  way  of  the  Spirit, 
we  should  say  all  his  joys  are  bestowed  as  a  blessing 
on  the  means  of  grace.  Here  he  exerts  his  divine  in- 
fluence. He  lifts  the  soul  toward  heaven,  when  the  soul 
makes  an  effort  to  rise  in  prayer.  He  pours  in  truth 
upon  the  mind,  when  the  mind  is  labouring  to  know 
the  truth.  He  generates  holy  affections,  when  he  dis- 
covers in  his  people  grief  for  sin,  and  ardent  desires  to 
be  more  holy.  Hence  the  house  of  God,  rather  than 
any  other  place,  has  been  the  scene  of  his  most  freq  i  nt 
and  his  mightiest  operations.  Here  he  has  fed  his  people, 
has  cheered  their  despondencies,  has  raised  their  hopes, 
has  strengthened  their  faith,  has  enabled  them  to  mount 
on  wings  as  eagles,  to  run  and  not  be  weary,  to  walk  and 
not  faint.  Here,  with  a  preached  gospel,  the  word  of  his 
grace,  that  truth  through  which  it  was  the  prayer  of  the 
Saviour  that  the  Father  would  sanctify  his  people,  he 
has,  in  every  age,  since  there  was  a  Christian  church, 
shed  forth  his  richest,  sweetest  comforts.  Here,  too,  he 
has  awakened  and  renewed  the  sinner ;  has  begun  in  the 
heart  that  eternal  life  which  it  is  his  promise,  and  his 
oath,  shall  be  carried  on  till  the  day  of  complete  redemp- 
tion. Here  all  our  precious  revivals  have  begun,  and 
have  been  carried  on,  by  what  has  been  termed  the  fool- 
ishness of  preaching. 

And  God  has  greatly  blessed  the  place  oi  prayer  and 
conference.  These  unnoticed  retreats  have  been,  in 
thousands  of  instances,  the  scenes  of  such  divine  display 
as  have  made  angels  glad,  and  have  multiplied  the  num- 
ber of  the  saved.  Christians  have  dated  their  very  best 
comforts  in  some  of  these  consecrated  retreats.  In  an- 
swer to  prayer,  every  comfort  has  dropped  from  heaven. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVE!?.  29 

The  heart  has  been  warmed  in  the  concert  of  prayer, 
beyond  almost  any  other  place.  Those  hours  nearest 
akin  to  heaven,  and  the  most  deeply  engraved  upon  the 
memory  and  the  heart,  to  be  the  subject  of  everlasting 
recollection,  and  of  delightful  mention  in  the  anthems 
of  heaven,  have  been  those  where  pious  hearts  met,  and 
were  melted  together  at  the  foot  of  the  cross — unless  it 
be  those  seasons  when  the  soul  was  alone  with  God, 
while  there  were  none  to  disturb  and  none  to  share  the 
sacred  joy.  Perhaps  no  comforts  can  outweigh  these. 
Hence  the  closet  is  that  most  sacred  and  most  lovely  place 
which  the  believer  is  the  last  to  quit,  where  he  would  live 
and  die.  There  the  heart  discloses  its  most  secret  con- 
cerns, delivers  its  most  confidential  message,  and  waits 
for  forgiveness  and  for  peace,  with  a  hope  that  takes  hold 
of  the  horns  of  the  altar  with  the  iron  grasp  of  death. 

If,  then,  God  has  thus  blessed  the  means  of  grace,  and 
they  are  rendered  by  his  appointment  so  essential  to  the 
soul's  transformation  into  the  image  of  God,  the  Spirit 
must  be  grieved  when  they  are  neglected.  Their  neg- 
lect develops  unbelief,  and,  what  is  more,  contempt.  If 
the  Spirit  operate,  he  must  choose  his  own  way.  We 
must  throw  ourselves  within  the  probable  reach  of  his 
influence,  where  he  has  blest  others,  and  where  he  has 
promised  to  bless  us.  And  not  only  be  there  occasion- 
ally, but  as  often  as  we  feel  our  need  of  his  special 
influences.  David  resolved  to  pray  seven  times  a  day, 
and  Daniel  three  times  in  the  day,  even  when  he  knew 
that  it  would  be  likely  1o  cost  him  his  life.  Christians 
cannot  lightly  dispense  with  any  means  of  grace  and 
not  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  they  are 
sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption. 

4.  Christians  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God  when  they  neg- 
lect to  make  use  of  the  promises.      These  were  given 


30  THE  CHRISTIAN'S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED. 

for  the  comfort  of  God's  covenant  people,  were  indited  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  are  the  principal  medium  through 
which  he  communicates  to  the  heart  the  richest  bless- 
ings of  his  agency.  Here  the  Christian  must  apply  when 
he  needs  support,  and  he  will  find  the  promises  wonder- 
fully adapted  to  his  circumstances.  If  he  feels  himself 
to  be  a  great  sinner,  here  is  a  promise  of  forgiveness  ;  "I 
will  blot  out  thine  iniquities,  and  remember  thy  sins  no 
more."  If  he  feels  himself  to  be  weak  and  defenceless,  the 
promise  reads,  "  Fear  not  thou  worm,  Jacob,  and  ye  men 
of  Israel ;  I  will  help  thee,  saith  the  Lord,  and  thy  Re- 
deemer, the  holy  one  of  Israel.  Behold,  I  will  make 
thee  a  new  sharp  threshing  instrument,  having  teeth : 
and  thou  shalt  thresh  the  mountains,  and  beat  them 
small,  and  shalt  make  the  hills  as  chaff.  One  shall  slay 
a  thousand,  and  two  shall  put  ten  thousand  to  flight."  If 
darkness  come  over  his  mind,  and  it  ever  becomes  at 
length  tangible,  like  the  night  of  Egypt,  still  the  promise 
reads,  "  He  that  walketh  in  darkness  and  hath  no  light, 
let  him  trust  in  the  Lord,  and  stay  himself  upon  his  God." 
If  he  fears  that  he  may  perish  amid  the  dangers  that 
surround  him,  he  may  read  and  be  comforted,  "  When 
thou  passest  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee  ; 
and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow  thee : 
when  thou  walkest  through  the  fire/  thou  shalt  not  be 
burned,  neither  shall  the  flames  kindle  upon  thee."  If 
there  come  an  hour  when  temptations  seem  too  sharp  and 
frequent  for  his  strength,  he  can  read  and  feel  safe.  No 
temptation  has  happened  to  you,  but  such  as  is  common 
to  men.  And  God  will,  with  the  temptation,  make  also 
a  way  of  escape.  Now  the  child  of  God  offends  the  di- 
vine Comforter  when  he  does  not  thus  apply  in  the  hour 
of  distress  to  the  promises  he  inspired. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED.  31 

5.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  grieved  when  the  promises 
are  misapplied.  When  the  promise  of  forgiveness,  for 
instance,  is  used  before  we  have  repented  ;  when  the 
promise  of  perseverance  is  made  to  comfort  a  backsliding 
believer,  when  any  thing  that  God  has  said  engenders  a 
hope  of  heaven,  while  the  affections  are  earthly,  sensual 
and  grovelling.  When  the  unbeliever  takes  sanctuary 
in  the  mercy  of  God  ;  and  when  the  Christian  hopes  to 
be  comforted  any  where  but  on  the  way  of  life,  there  is 
offered  equally  an  insult  to  the  Spirit  of  grace.  The 
gracious  things  said  in  the  book  of  God  are  all  appro- 
priated in  their  promulgation.  The  meek  only  will  he 
guide  in  the  way  and  cause  to  inherit  the  earth.  To  the 
poor  in  spirit  belong  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  that 
mourn  shall  be  comforted.  To  those  only  who  keep  his 
covenant  and  his  testimonies,  are  all  the  ways  of  the 
Lord,  righteousness  and  peace.  Those  only  who  trust 
in  the  Lord  and  do  good  shall  inherit  the  land,  and  shall 
verily  be  fed.  Those  shall  know  the  Lord  who  follow 
on  to  know  him.  Those  shall  find  him,  who  seek  him 
with  all  their  heart. 

After  the  same  manner  are  all  the  promises  appropria- 
ted, and  may  neither  be  neglected  nor  misapplied.  Hence 
every  man  who  would  not  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God, 
should  make  it  his  first  question,  What  is  my  character? 
and  his  second,  What  kind  thing  has  God  said  to  me  ?  or 
his  first  question,  What  is  my  condition  ?  and  his  second, 
What  promise  reaches  such  a  condition  ?  Then,  to  use 
the  emphatical  language  of  Scripture,  the  dogs  do  not  eat 
the  children's  bread.  There  are  times,  I  apprehend, 
when  the  real  believer  may  not  apply  to  the  refreshment 
of  his  soul  a  single  promise,  but  must  let  the  Bible  lie  by 
him,  as  the  offending  child,  faint  and  hungry,  may  take 
no  refreshment  from  his  father's  table.     He  must  suffer 


32  the  christian's  best  friend  aggrieved. 

and  fast  till  he  is  humbled.  The  promise  is  ready  for 
him,  and  God  will  refresh  him  with  it,  when  he  has 
brought  him  to  feel  that  he  must  die  without  it.  To 
this  spot  God  delights  to  bring  his  people,  when  they 
sin.  His  kindness  is  thus  the  more  timely  and  the  more 
welcome. 

II.  I  am  next  to  notice  the  consequences  of  grieving 
the  Spirit.     These  will  appear, 

1.  In  the  absence  of  Christian  consolations.  When 
we  have  grieved  the  Comforter,  how  can  we  hope  that 
he  will  bestow  his  comforts  ?  When  he  has  brought  his 
blessings  to  our  doors,  and  we  treat  him  with  contempt 
or  neglect,  he  will  leave  us  to  pore  over  our  miseries,  and 
perhaps,  to  howl  upon  our  beds.  How  striking  a  feature 
is  this  in  the  history  of  God's  people,  recorded  in  his  word  ! 
David  grieved  the  holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  we  hear  him 
complain  at  the  noise  of  the  water-spouts.  Deep  calleth 
unto  deep.  All  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  are  gone  over 
my  soul.  He  wet  his  couch  with  tears.  All  his  bones 
were  out  of  joint.  God  broke  him  with  his  tempest. 
He  was  made  to  bear  the  iniquities  of  his  youth. 

And  how  well  has  all  this  accorded  with  the  experience 
of  God's  people  in  all  the  ages  since,  when  they  have 
grieved  the  Spirit.  He  withdrew  his  consolation.  They 
fasted,  and  prayed,  and  wept,  and  God  hid,  as  it  were, 
his  face  from  them.  Wearisome  nights  were  appointed 
unto  them.  They  looked  toward  death  with  gloominess. 
Toward  heaven  they  cast  the  fearful  glance  of  abandon- 
ment. They  dinged  to  the  covenant  as  a  drowning  man 
to  the  plank  floating  by  him. 

2.  When  the  Spirit  has  been  grieved,  it  appears  in  the 
withering  of  the  Christian  graces.  The  Spirit  of 
God  is  the  grand  agent,  by  whose  influence  every  holy 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED.  33 

affection  is  nourished.  Hence  his  influence  upon  the 
heart  is  compared  to  the  rain,  on  which  nature  is  depend- 
ant for  all  its  beauty,  and  all  its  fertility.  Let  the  showers 
be  withholden,  and  how  soon  will  every  field  and  every 
garden  wither  !  How  soon  will  the  sterility  of  death 
cover  the  face  of  creation,  and  the  veriest  Eden  be  con- 
verted into  a  desert !  How  will  the  plant  wither,  and  the 
landscape  fade,  and  culture  become  useless  when  there 
no  longer  falls  the  timely  and  refreshing  shower  !  So 
faith,  and  love,  and  hope,  all  fail,  when  the  Spirit  of  God 
has  been  grieved.  There  can  neither  be  seen  the  hu- 
mility, nor  the  heavenly-mindedness,  nor  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  nor  the  watchfulness,  nor  the  meekness,  nor  any 
of  the  other  graces  which  stand  out  to  view,  when  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  operating.  The  life-giving  breeze  does 
not  blow  upon  the  garden,  causing  the  spices  to  flow  out. 
The  Christian,  when  he  has  grieved  away  the  Spirit  of 
God,  becomes,  for  the  time  being,  merely  a  decent  world- 
ling, rising  but  one  small  degree  above  the  man  who 
was  never  born  of  God.  His  lamp,  if  it  may  not  be  said 
to  have  gone  out,  dies  away  till  it  casts  hardly  a  ray  of 
light  into  the  darkness  of  this  revolted  world. 

3.  When  the  Spirit  is  grieved,  one  of  the  effects  is 
the  loosening  of  the  bonds  of  Christian  affection. 
This  affection  originates  in  love  to  Christ ;  hence,  if  that 
love  decays,  all  the  affections  that  depend  upon  it,  suffer 
a  correspondent  decay.  Christ  is  the  head  by  which 
all  the  limbs  are  united,  and  live  and  act  in  unison.  He 
is  the  vine.  Amputate  the  branch  from  the  vine,  and 
it  immediately  loses  its  connection  with  all  the  other 
branches.  What  is  the  believer  to  me,  when  I  have  no 
longer  any  interest  in  him  who  is  the  believer's  life  'I 
Now  if  there  be  not,  and  this  is  not  pretended,  a  final 
abandonment  of  the  covenant,  still  if  covenant  engage- 
4 


34  the  christian's  best  friend  aggrieved. 

ments  are  disregarded,  and  he  whose  agency  it  is  to  see 
the  covenant  ratified,  withholds  his  influence,  why  expect 
any  union  among  those  whom  it  was  intended  to  bind  ? 
Sink  the  believer  down  into  the  man  he  once  was,  and 
why  expect  of  him  that  he  will  wish  any  other  than  un- 
godly men  for  his  associates  ?  The  union  of  God's  peo- 
ple to  each  other  will  ever  bear  an  exact  proportion  to  the 
growth  and  vigour  of  their  piety.  Hence,  in  the  absence 
of  the  Spirit's  sanctifying  influence,  there  decays,  with 
the  other  graces,  love  to  the  brethren,  and  the  ligature  is 
sundered  that  holds  together  the  family  of  the  faithful. 
Hence  all  the  discords,  the  divisions,  and  the  broils  ;  the 
hard  names  and  the  angry  feelings,  that  have  sundered 
believers. 

4.  When  the  Spirit  is  grieved  the  Christian  be- 
comes a  worldling.  Losing  his  heavenly  hopes  and 
his  celestial  comforts,  there  remain  none  but  earthly 
hopes  and  creature  comforts.  The  Christian  is  not  only 
made  to  differ  from  the  man  of  the  world  at  the  first,  by 
the  agency  of  the  Spirit,  but  this  difference  is  continued 
by  the  same  agency.  Just  like  a  weight  suspended  in 
the  air,  he  sinks  the  moment  he  is  not  supported.  The 
graces  which  the  Spirit  generates  makes  the  difference  ; 
these  suspended  and  the  resemblance  returns.  Clip  the 
wings  of  the  dove,  and  what  is  she  but  a  reptile  ?  She 
must  tread  upon  earth,  and  gather  her  food  in  the  dust. 
The  man  is  not  willing  to  be  destitute  of  comforts.  If 
he  may  not  eat  the  bread  of  heaven,  he  hankers  after  the 
leeks  and  onions  of  Egypt.  When  the  first  king  of  Is- 
rael found  that  the  Lord  did  not  answer  him  as  afore- 
time, he  sought  to  the  witch  of  Endor  for  the  guidance  he 
needed.  The  Lord's  people  are  a  miserable  set  of  beings, 
when  the  Spirit  has  departed  from  them.  They  will 
need,  to  make  them  happy,  all  the  worldly  prosperity 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED.  35 

they  had  before,  and  more  yet,  and  will  covet  it  as  eagerly 
as  the  man  who  has  never  risen  with  Christ,  nor  has 
ever  learned  to  seek  those  things  that  are  above. 

5.  When  God's  people  have  grieved  the  Spirit,  he 
ceases  to  multiply  their  numbers  by  the  conversion  of 
sinners.  He  has  so  honoured  them  as  to  operate  in  an- 
swer to  their  prayers.  I  will  be  inquired  of  by  the  house 
of  Israel  to  bless  them.  When  Zion  travails  she  brings 
forth  children.  God  works  by  means ;  and  when  the 
people  of  God  become  backsliders,  the  means  cease,  and 
the  work  of  God  is  stayed.  He  thus  puts  honour  upon 
his  people ;  makes  them  the  instruments  of  doing  him 
service,  and  has  himself  the  pleasure  of  rewarding  them. 
They  would  be  less  happy  if  God  had  given  them  no 
opportunity  to  labour  in  his  service.  Hence,  when  they 
have  grieved  the  holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  he  has  with- 
drawn his  influence,  and  as  a  sure  result,  they  have  lost 
their  relish  for  his  service,  he  suffers  sinners  to  sleep  on 
and  perish.  It  is  considered  an  established  matter  of  fact, 
that  God  does  not,  and  the  presumption  is  that  he  ivill 
not,  revive  his  work,  till  his  jjeople  are  revived,  and  are 
ready  to  be  workers  together  with  God.  Believers  then 
are  urged  not  to  grieve  away  the  divine  influence,  by  all 
that  a  soul  is  worth,  and  by  all  that  a  multitude  of  souls 
are  worth.  And  if,  in  an  evil  hour,  the  Spirit  has  been 
grieved,  they  are  urged  to  repent,  and  humble  themselves 
at  his  feet,  by  all  the  importance  that  could  possibly  attach 
itself  to  a  precious  and  extensive  work  of  God,  among 
the  ungodly  around  them. 

REMARKS. 

1.  Believers  can  do  nothing  that  is  at  the  same  time 
so  great  a  calamity  and  so  great  a  crime  as  to  grieve 
the  holy  Spirit,    They  feel  the  injury  first  themselves, 


3G  the  christian's  best  friend  aggrieved. 

in  their  languishing  graces,  and  their  loss  of  comforts ; 
in  their  beclouded  prospects,  and  their  diminished  hopes. 
Nor  would  it  be  a  conjecture  wholly  groundless,  that 
they  may  be  affected  in  their  interests  forever,  by  every 
season  of  relapse.  They  may  be  thus  rendered  lesser 
stars  in  the  firmament  of  God  forever.  And  how  many 
souls  may  perish  by  the  deed,  we  cannot  know,  till  the 
season  of  action  is  past,  and  the  character  of  all  around 
us  formed  and  finished,  and  their  destiny  about  to  be 
fixed. 

2.  Let  me  say  that  God's  people  may  easily  know 
when  they  have  grieved  away  the  divine  Spirit.  He 
will  carry  away  all  his  comforts  with  him.  They  will 
be  happy  in  none  of  those  things  that  once  contributed 
to  their  joy.  There  will  be  no  communion  kept  up  with 
the  Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  All  inter- 
course with  the  throne  of  grace  will  be  interrupted,  and 
darkness  will  come  upon  the  believer  as  soon  as  be  begins 
to  pray.  No  matter  when  he  attempts  the  duty,  the  place 
will  be  dark.  There  will  fall  neither  rain  nor  dew.  The 
heavens  will  be  brass,  and  the  earth  iron  under  his  feet. 
And  the  circulation  of  a  heavenly  influence  between  him 
and  the  family  of  believers  will  be  interrupted,  and  there 
will  be  a  suspension  of  Christian  fellowship.  And  there 
will  be  no  visions  of  heaven.  There  will  cover  the  sun 
of  righteousness  a  cloud,  dark  and  black  as  midnight. 
The  believer  will  now  grope  his  way  as  the  blind  do,  and 
stumble  at  noonday  as  in  the  night.  Those  horrid  falls, 
that  have  crippled  and  half  destroyed  the  children  of  God 
in  all  ages,  have  happened  when  the  Spirit  had  been 
grieved  away.  David  and  Peter  had  grieved  the  Spirit 
when  lie  left  them  to  stand  in  that  critical  hour  alone. 
The  spouse  in  the  song  had  grieved  him  away,whens  he 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  BEST  FKIEND  AGGRIEVED.  37 

went  about  the  streets  inquiring,  "  Saw  ye  him  whom 
my  soul  loveth  ?  " 

There  is  but  one  source  whence  come  all  the  believer's 
comforts,  from  the  influence  of  the  divine  Spirit.  Hence, 
if  he  is  grieved,  the  spring  of  his  consolations  is  dried  up, 
and  he  must  as  assuredly  famish,  if  this  fountain  is  not 
again  opened,  as  the  word  of  God  is  true.  Hence  it 
would  seem  that  the  believer  can  easily  know  if  he  has 
done  this  disastrous  work  ;  can  know  by  the  poverty 
and  misery,  and  desolation  of  his  soul ;  by  the  total  ab- 
sence of  all  those  consolations  that  used  to  be  brought 
to  him  by  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

3.  On  the  conduct  of  believers  depends  the  welfare 
of  the  world.  If  on  them  it  depends  under  God,  whe- 
ther the  multitudes  of  the  ungodly  continue  to  throng 
the  way  of  death,  then  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  can 
withhold,  or  can  put  forth  an  agency  that  affects  the 
weal  or  the  wo  of  a  world.  While  then  you  sleep — ye 
redeemed  of  the  Lord — while  you  sleep,  and  your  graces 
droop,  and  your  character  suffers,  and  your  lamp  goes 
out,  there  lies  around  you  a  depraved  and  prayerless 
multitude,  who  are  forming  a  character  for  the  pit,  and 
pursuing  their  way  down  to  the  prison  of  hell,  to  the 
blackness  of  darkness  forever. 

4.  It  should  then  be  the  wish  of  the  men  of  the  world, 
that  Godi's  people  live  near  to  him.  They  sometimes 
imagine  that  it  is  better  with  them  when  believers  let  down 
their  watch  and  become  like  themslves.  Then  their  con- 
sciences do  not  reproach  them,  and  they  have  not  such 
fearful  alarms,  as  when  the  people  of  God  come  out  from 
them,  and  are  separate.  Still  they  never  make  a  more 
fearful  mistake,  than  when  slumbering  on  the  brink  of 
ruin  themselves,  they  wish  all  around  them  to  sleep  also. 
If  it  is  their  horrid  purpose  to  keep  their  stand  on  the  brink 

4* 


38  the  christian's  best  friend  aggrieved. 

of  death  eternal,  they  should  be  as  wise  as  the  Macedo- 
nian, and  appoint  one  at  least  to  stand  at  the  door  of 
their  dormitory,  and  cry,  day  by  day,  Wake,  O  sleeper  ! 
5.  Hence  the  -propriety  that  Christians  should  often 
inquire  of  themselves,  whether  they  are  acting  a  kind 
part  toward  the  ungodly.  What  was  said  in  Israel,  in 
a  time  of  national  calamity,  may  apply,  in  a  time  of  the 
withdrawment  of  the  divine  influence.  "If  my  people, 
which  are  called  by  my  name,  shall  humble  themselves 
and  pray,  and  seek  my  face,  and  turn  from  their  wicked 
ways,  then  will  I  hear  from  heaven  and  will  forgive  their 
sin,  and  will  heal  their  land."  I  have  frequently  thought 
of  this  text  with  pleasure,  and  have  styled  it  a  recipe  for 
a  revival.  I  have  thought  it  a  pity  that  any  Christian 
should  live  without  a  knowledge  of  this  precious  part  of 
the  word  of  God,  it  is  found  in  2d  Chronicles,  vii  chap- 
ter and  14  verse.  Not  only  is  the  Minister  of  Christ  set 
to  watch  for  souls,  but,  in  a  very  important  sense,  every 
believer  is  a  watchman,  and  cannot  sleep,  but  he  en- 
dangers the  souls  of  men.  Instead  of  this,  it  should  be 
his  object  to  keep  every  conscience  around  him  alarmed, 
till  the  lost  are  all  seen  flying  for  refuge,  to  lay  hold  on 
the  hope  set  before  them  in  the  gospel.  They  may  not 
sleep  while  there  is  one  lost  sinner  within  the  sound  of 
their  voice.  If  believers  would  not  bring  blood-guiltiness 
upon  themselves,  and  calculate  by  and  by  to  complain 
to  God,  "  All  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  are  gone  over 
my  soul,"  then  they  should  not  sleep  as  do  others,  but 
watch  and  be  sober.  There  hangs  in  the  vigilance  of 
God's  people,  an  amount  of  interest  that  outweighs  the 
wealth  of  a  city,  and  the  wealth  of  a  world.  Their  re- 
sponsibility is  greater  than  the  out-guards  of  a  camp  of 
soldiery,  when,  if  one  sentinel  should  fall  to  sleep,  it  might 
cause  a  whole  army  to  perish. 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED.  39 

6.  But  in  these  circumstances,  what  can  the  Chris- 
tian do  to  recover  his  former  condition  ?  Why,  just 
what  de  did  when  he  first  found  himself  a  lost  sinner — 
repent.  "  But,"  says  the  poor  benighted  and  comfortless 
soul,  "  How  can  I  repent  without  the  influences  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  ?  and  I  have  grieved  him  away."  Then 
here  you  are  my  brother,  at  the  mercy  of  God.  Lie 
down  and  determine  to  die,  if  you  must,  full  in  this  con- 
viction. The  churches'  hope  of  you  is  wholly  in  the 
provisions  of  the  covenant.  I  will  turn  you  to  a  leaf  or 
two  of  that  covenant :  "  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith 
the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the 
house  of  Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah."  Here  it 
reads,  you  see,  "  1  will  be  their  God  and  they  shall  be 
my  people."  He  does  not  intend  to  let  his  people  go. 
They  would,  if  he  would  let  them,  and  perish  every  soul 
of  them,  even  after  he  has  forgiven  them,  and  they  have 
been  permitted  to  gaze  upon  the  glories  of  the  Lamb. 
Let  me  turn  you  to  another  leaf  of  that  compact.  "  I 
will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  them,  that  I  will 
not  turn  away  from  them,  to  do  them  good  ;  but  I  will 
put  my  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall  not  depart 
from  me"  On  another  page  of  this  covenant, it  reads, 
"  My  salvation  shall  be  forever,  and  my  righteousness 
shall  not  be  abolished."  And  there  is  one  other  page,  if 
possible,  still  more  precious,  "  And  they  shall  be  my  peo- 
ple, and  I  will  be  their  God  :  for  they  shall  return  unto 
me  with  their  whole  heart."  I  will  read  you  one  other 
line  of  that  wondrous  compact,  which  God  has  made 
with  his  people,  and  leave  you  to  read  and  ponder  on  the 
residue:  "  If  they  break  my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my 
commandments;  then  I  will  visit  their  transgressions 
with  the  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with  stripes.  Neverthe- 
less, my  loving-kindness  will  I  not  utterly  take  from  him. 


40  THE  CHRISTIAN'S  BEST  FRIEND  AGGRIEVED. 

nor  suffer  my  faithfulness  to  fail.  My  covenant  will  I 
not  break,  nor  alter  the  thing  that  is  gone  out  of  my  lips." 
Thus  are  you  shut  up  to  the  covenant  mercy  of  God, 
and  here  is  the  safest  place  to  leave  you.  If  you  have 
been  his  children,  and  have  grieved  away  his  Spirit,  still 
his  unbounded  mercy  can  reach  you.  He  can  restore  to 
you  the  joy  of  his  salvation,  and  then  uphold  you  with 
his  free  spirit. 


SERMON    XLIV. 
TERMS    OF    DIVINE   ACCEPTANCE. 

Acts  xvi.  30. 
Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? 

Paul  and  Silas,  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  their 
duty,  found  themselves  at  length  immured  in  the  dun- 
geons of  Philippi.  There  they  lifted  up  their  voices  in 
prayer  and  praise  ;  and  the  prisoners  heard  them  ;  and 
what  was  to  them  of  far  higher  importance,  God  heard 
them,  and  sent  his  angels  to  deliver  them.  The  bars  of 
their  prison  were  sundered,  their  doors  flew  open,  and 
their  bands  were  loosed.  The  result  was,  a  deep  alarm 
fastened  "upon  the  mind  of  the  prison-keeper,  venting 
itself  in  the  language  of  the  text,  "Sirs,  what  must  I 
do  to  be  saved?" 

Now  the  gospel  aims  to  bring  every  man  to  the  very 
spot  where  that  man  was  brought,  and  then  direct  him 
to  a  Saviour  and  to  heaven.  There  must  be  alarm,  be- 
cause there  is  danger,  unless  in  those,  perhaps  very  rare 
cases,  when  a  Saviour  is  embraced,  or  rather  the  heart 
prepared  to  receive  him,  before  the  danger  is  fully  dis- 
covered. Unless  we  see  our  danger  we  shall  make  no 
effort  to  escape  from  the  wrath  to  come.  And  men  will 
have  so  soon  slept  the  sleep  of  death,  and  alarm  be  of 
no  avail,  that  humanity  requires  every  possible  effort  to 
wake  them. 


42  TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE. 

Hence  no  curse  can  be  greater,  than  a  ministry  cal- 
culated to  keep  men  secure  in  their  sins.  At  no  other 
point  does  there  await  you  so  much  danger.  Your  ser- 
vant may  be  idle,  and  your  steward  defraud  you,  and 
your  best  friend  betray  you,  and  still  you  may  suffer 
but  a  temporary  loss ;  but  if  he  who  is  the  mouth  of 
God  to  you,  deceive  you,  put  darkness  for  light  and  light 
for  darkness,  your  loss  may  be  irreparable. 

In  the  report  of  that  gospel  which  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  will  approve  at  his  coming,  the  text  must  be  fully 
and  correctly  answered.  The  sinner  must  know  exact- 
ly the  terms  on  which  God  will  accept  him.  One  may 
have  some  general  notion  that  he  is  a  sinner,  that  a 
Saviour  is  provided,  and  that  possibly  he  may  have  life 
through  that  Saviour  ;  and  still  be  so  much  in  the  dark 
relative  to  the  terms  of  acceptance,  as  to  miss  of  eternal 
life.  The  mere  fact  that  a  Saviour  died,  if  fully  known, 
is  not  sufficient  to  secure  salvation.  The  bare  atone- 
ment, if  there  be  no  application  of  it  to  the  soul,  will 
avail  nothing.  Christ  fulfilled  the  demands  of  the  law 
in  behalf  of  all  who,  in  the  appointed  way,  shall  become 
interested  in  his  blood.  But  if  this  atonement  be  neg- 
lected ;  if  we  listen  to  a  gospel  that  on  this  point  misdi- 
rects us  ;  and  we  do  notbecome  qualified  to  enjoy  salva- 
tion, it  will  no  otherwise  affect  us,  than  as  an  aggrava- 
tion of  our  condemnation.  My  plan  will  be,  to  show 
what  is  not  adequate  instruction  on  this  subject,  and 
what  is. 

I.  I  am  to  show  what  is  not  adequate  instruction 
on  this  subject. 

1.  When  men  are  urged  to  a  reformation,  as  what 
will  put  them  into  the  way  of  life,  the  instruction  is 
inadequate.  If  men  quit  their  grosser  iniquities,  and 
become  decent  and  civil,   still  no  promise  of  heaven 


TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE.  43 

reaches  them  on  this  condition  merely.  Where  in  the 
gospel  are  any  such  terms  stated  ?  I  know  that  men 
are  obligated  to  break  off  their  sins  by  righteousness,, 
forthwith.  John  directed  some  bad  men  who  came 
to  him,  to  cease  from  violence  and  become  honest,  and 
contented :  but  John  did  not  mean  to  leave  them  here  : 
hence  did  not  say,  that  on  these  terms  Christ  would  re- 
ceive them.  These  were  rather  the  conditions,  on  which 
they  could  be  prepared  to  receive  his  instruction  to  ad- 
vantage. If  I  should  meet  with  a  drunkard,  or  a  thief, 
and  they  should  ask  me  about  the  gospel,  the  first  lessons 
I  should  give  them,  would  be  on  the  subjects  of  sobriety 
and  honesty.  Men  are  sometimes  too  far  gone  in  the 
by-paths  of  death,  to  give  the  gospel  a  candid  hearing, 
and  learn  what  the  terms  of  salvation  are ;  and  then 
the  first  lesson  given  them  may  have  respect  to  their 
waywardness ;  and  when  the  gospel  has  gained  this 
footing,  then  you  may  tell  them  of  salvation  to  advan- 
tage. 

But  there  may  be  this  external  reformation,  and  there 
often  has  been,  while  yet  there  was  no  preparation  of 
heart  to  receive  the  Saviour,  but  sin  was  loved,  and 
rolled  as  a  sweet  morsel  under  the  tongue.  Men  may 
quit  their  sins  from  motives  of  interest  or  ambition. 
Gross  iniquities  are  scandalous  and  expensive,  and  may 
be  abandoned  from  the  supreme  love  of  something  else 
beside  Christ. 

The  fear  of  the  wrath  to  come,  while  yet  there  is  a 
prompt  and  a  total  ahenation  of  the  heart  from  God, 
may  induce  men  to  break  off  some  habit,  that  threatens 
their  sure  and  speedy  perdition.  But  there  is  not  a  text 
in  one  of  the  pages  of  inspiration,  that  exhibits  this  su- 
perficial reformation,  as  the  condition  of  pardon  and 
accceptance  through  a  Saviour.     The  young  man  that 


44  TERMS   OF    DIVINE   ACCEPTANCE j 

would  know  what  good  thing  he  must  do  to  inherit 
eternal  life,  was  civil  and  decent,  and  still  was  unfit  for 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  was  sent  away  very  sorrow- 
ful. It  will  not  be  denied  but  that  he  had  become  a 
moral  man,  but  he  still  loved  supremely  the  good  things 
of  this  life. 

2.  When  men  are  directed,  not  merely  to  break  off 
some  of  the  grosser  iniquities,  but  to  perform  some  of 
the  mere  external  duties  of  piety,  the  instruction  given 
them  is  still  inadequate.  The  very  same  motives  that 
led  tc  the  one,  will  often  lead  to  the  other.  The  very 
same  man,  who  would  cease  his  profaneness,  and  his 
Sabbath-breaking,  and  his  lewd  song-singing,  and  his 
drunkenness,  and  his  midnight  revellings,  because  he 
had  become  ashamed  of  their  vulgarity  ;  will  have  prayer 
sometimes  in  his  family,  and  will  attend  upon  a  preached 
gospel,  and  have  a  Bible  in  his  house,  and  read  it  occa- 
sionally, because  all  this  is  civil  and  decent. 

And  sometimes  this  cheap  and  superficial  religion,  is 
the  high  way  to  preferment.  Men  will  be  to  some  ex- 
tent religious,  if  they  can  obtain  character  by  it,  and  can 
make  it  a  stairway  to  office,  and  influence  and  wealth 
too.  They  will  bow  and  cringe  to  men,  and  God  too, 
if  they  may  obtain  suffrages  by  it.  Men  will  consent  to 
be  any  thing,  if  it  will  make  them  great  in  the  life  that 
now  is. 

And  they  will  perform  duties,  in  hopes  to  gain  heaven 
by  this  means.  If  God  will  excuse  them  for  hating  his 
law,  and  character,  and  government,  they  will  attend 
upon  his  ordinances,  and  pay  an  outward  respect  to  his 
Sabbaths,  and  repeat  their  creed,  and  rehearse  their  pray- 
ers ;  and  account  it  a  cheap  salvation.  And  this  it  will 
be  found  is  not  an  unusual  resort  of  ungodly  men.  In 
every  period  of  alarm,   away  they  fly  to  Christian  ordi- 


TEEMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE.  45 

nances.  So  in  the  darker  times  of  Israel,  they  would 
steal,  murder,  and  committ  adultery,  and  swear  falsely, 
and  burn  incense  unto  Baal,  and  then  come  and  stand 
before  God  in  his  house.  And  it  is  declared  in  that 
case,  that  they  trusted  in  lying  words  that  could  not 
profit. 

God  has  never  spoken  of  this  external  attention  to 
religious  things,  as  the  terms  of  acceptance  with  him : 
for  there  may  be  still  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief.  The 
prayers  uttered  by  the  lips,  may  neither  have  their  source 
in  the  heart,  nor  throw  back  upon  it  the  least  impulse  to 
piety.  They  may  not  even  engross  the  thinking  pow- 
ers, but  may  be  in  the  ears  of  Jehovah  like  the  prating 
of  the  parrot.  Men  have  no  doubt  uttered  prayers,  while 
the  hostility  of  their  hearts,  could  they  have  been  con- 
scious of  it,  to  the  God  invoked,  and  the  Saviour  whose 
name  was  used,  would  have  driven  them  from  their 
knees,  and  sealed  up  their  lips  in  the  sullenness  of  perdi- 
tion. And  the  Scriptures  have  been  read,  while  the 
heart  quarrelled  with  every  doctrine  and  duty  they  en- 
forced. And ordinanceshave been  attended,  and  Sabbaths 
kept  and  charities  given,  and  confessions  made,  while 
there  was  the  deadliest  hostility  to  all  that  is  holy  in  God, 
or  purifying  in  truth. 

3.  If  you  add  to  all  this  a  profession  of  godliness, 
the  instruction  given  is  still  inadequate.  In  professing 
godliness,  men  often  add  perjury  to  their  other  deeds  of 
wrong.  A  profession  is  not  unfrequently  the  very  climax 
of  their  impudence,  and  their  daring.  Ah,  how  mis- 
taken have  ministers  and  churches  been,  in  supposing 
that  when  they  had  persuaded  the  ungodly  to  enter  pro- 
fessedly into  covenant  with  God,  they  had  secured  to 
some  extent  the  object  of  the  gospel  institutions.  They 
have  not  unfrequently  lived  to  see  their  convert  a  more 

5 


46  TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE. 

daring  sinner  than  previously,  to  his  hypocritical  adop- 
tion of  the  covenant ;  and  have  been  grieved  that  they 
had  not  left  him  without  the  enclosures  of  the  fold. 
They  brought  him  up  to  sealing  ordinances,  sprinkled 
clean  water  upon  him,  and  made  his  lips  touch  the  con- 
secrated symbols  of  a  dying  Christ,  but  the  heart  remain- 
ed a  mass  of  moral  putrefaction  ;  and  the  sacrifice  offered 
was  but  a  smoke  and  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  an 
insulted  Saviour.  They  painted  and  varnished  the 
sepulchre,  while  within  it  was  full  of  dead  men's  bones 
and  all  uncleanness.  It  is  many  a  time  obvious,  that  so 
far  from  there  having  been  any  thing  gained,  by  thrust- 
ing the  worldling  into  this  religious  atmosphere,  you 
have  but  the  more  effectually  blocked  up  the  last  avenue 
to  his  conscience,  and  thus  placed  him  perhaps  beyond 
the  reach  of  hope  and  of  heaven. 

But  suppose  if  you  please  the  very  best  case,  and  tell 
me  if  in  this  visible  transformation,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
will  see  any  thing  that  he  will  consider  a  compliance 
with  the  terms  of  life  and  salvation  which  he  offers? 
And  I  have  left  out  of  view  the  question  whether  it  be 
right  to  do  so  1  Whether  without  the  bidding  of  Jesus 
Christ,  we  may  thus  administer  his  holy  ordinances  to 
unsanctified  men?  Are  we  in  such  a  procedure,  honest 
to  souls?  is  now  the  question.  May  we  encourage 
them  thus  to  compass  themselves  about  with  sparks 
of  their  own  kindling,  and  walk  in  the  light  of 
their  own  fires  ?  Are  they  safe  or  we  honest,  while  we 
watch  no  better  the  gates  of  the  sheepfold  ?  The  press 
that  men  make  toward  sealing  ordinances,  is  a  proof 
that  they  are  uneasy  and  unhappy,  and  if  we  grant 
their  wish,  do  we  answer  honestly  and  fairly  the  questi- 
on thus  silently  put  to  us,  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be 
saved  ?  "     Do  we  not  rather  seal  them  up  to  a  perpetual 


TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE.  47 

stupidity,  and  shall  we  not  have  to  answer  for  their 
blood,  in  the  clay  that  inquisition  shall  be  made  for  it  ? 

II.  Having  thus  endeavoured  to  show,  what  is  not 
adequate  instruction  on  this  subject,  I  proceed  to  inquire, 
what  is  ?  In  stating  the  terms  on  which  the  sinner  can 
become  interested  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  should 
choose  to  say ; 

1.  He  must  explicitly  avow  his  approbation  oj  the 
law  he  has  broken.  Here  begins,  under  every  govern- 
ment, where  there  has  been  revolt,  the  exercise  of  a  right 
temper.  Christ  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  but  to  fulfil 
it.  This  declaration  is  found  on  the  very  title  page  of 
his  gospel.  Repent,  sa  id  he,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand.  And  what  is  repentance,  more  or  less,  than 
a  cordial  approbation  of  the  precept  that  has  been  vio- 
lated ? 

Hence  the  language  of  penitence  in  all  ages  has  been 
the  same.  "  The  law  is  good,  its  penalties  just,  and  its 
whole  design  benevolent.  God  had  not  been  kind,  had 
he  given  us  any  other  law,  or  been  willing  that  it  should 
be  broken  with  impunity,  or  had  affixed  any  lower  pe- 
nalty, or  accepted  any  meaner  sacrifice  than  his  own 
Son,  as  the  atoning  Lamb.  O,  I  am  a  wretch  for  hav- 
ing broken  this  law,  and  can  offer  no  possible  plea  that 
shall  excuse  or  palliate  the  smallest  deviation  from  its 
precepts.  If  God  should  cast  me  off  forever,  he  would 
but  treat  me  as  I  deserve  to  be  treated,  and  expect  to 
be."  Thus  the  sinner  takes  to  himself  the  punishment 
of  his  sins,  and  thus  places  himself  in  an  attitude,  where 
Christ  can  begin  to  notice  him,  and  still  be  the  friend  and 
patron  of  the  divine  law. 

With  this  principle  we  are  all  familiar.  The  child 
sees  you  pouring  your  frowns  upon  his  disobedience,  and 
would  be  glad  if  you  would  agree  with  him  in  repro- 


48  TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE. 

bating  the  precept  he  has  violated.  But  your  authority 
is  lost,  and  your  child  ruined,  if  you  cease  to  frown,  till 
he  confesses  that  he  has  broken  a  good  law.  Then,  and 
not  till  then,  can  you  relax  the  sternness  of  that  counte- 
nance, which  frowns  upon  his  disobedience.  The  teach- 
er places  the  rebellious  child  at  his  feet,  and  he  must  be 
there,  till  he  confesses  the  precept  just,  that  he  violated. 
And  the  same  principle  is  acted  upon  in  all  governments 
that,  admit  of  pardon. 

So  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  if  he  would  not  do  a  re- 
bellious world  incalculable  mischief,  must  suffer  the 
sinner  to  make  no  approach  to  him,  till  he  is  grieved  for 
his  transgressions,  or  has  avowed  his  full  approbation  of 
the  law  he  has  broken.  Then  he  can  be  saved,  and 
the  law  of  God  be  sustained. 

Now  the  whole  of  repentance  may  be  summed  up,  as 
I  suppose,  in  this  retrospect  of  a  humbled  sinner,  upon  his 
guilty  and  inexcusable  violations  of  a  good  law  ;  inclu- 
ding however  his  abandonment  of  the  transgressions 
which  he  disapproves.  Thus  is  performed  one  of  the 
conditions,  on  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  will  receive 
us  to  his  favour,  and  wash  away  our  sins  in  his  blood. 

2.  The  sinner  must  become  willing  to  owe  his 
escape  from  the  curse  of  the  law  to  Jesus  Christ. 
One  may  know  that  he  has  broken  the  law  of  God,  and 
that  the  law  he  has  broken  is  a  good  law,  and  still 
be  too  'proud  to  receive  pardon  on  the  terms  of  the  gos- 
pel. We  have  known  cases  when  men  have  starved 
and  perished  rather  than  receive  alms.  The  pride  of 
their  hearts  would  not  suffer  them  to  eat  the  bread  they 
had  not  purchased.  And  men  have  gone  down  to  hell> 
because  they  would  not  cast  themselves  upon  that  Savi- 
our, whose  help  was  seen  to  be  necessary,  in  order  to 
their  escape  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Not  merely  must 
the  sinner  see  that  he  is  perishing,  and  that  there  is  no 


TERMS    OF    DIVIVE    ACCEPTANCE.  49 

help  out  of  Christ,  but  he  must  become  pleased  with 
Christ,  else  he  will  not  feel  himself  secure  in  his  hands, 
nor  apply  to  him  for  life. 

It  is  believed  that  many  a  soul  has  perished,  hesita- 
ting whether  it  would  be  prudent  or  safe  to  cast  himself 
upon  the  Saviour.  To  do  this  is  faith,  and  implies  that 
already  the  temper  of  the  heart  is  changed  :  but  all  men 
have  not  faith  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  awa- 
kened sinners  have  faith.  Some  may  have  ;  for  none 
can  say  how  early  in  the  process  of  alarm  God  may  re- 
new the  heart.  But  of.  this  we  are  sure,  that  when 
renewed,  it  is  prepared  to  believe,  soon  after  the  charac- 
ter of  Jesus  Christ  is  presented. 

Sinners  often  wonder,  and  sometimes  quarrel,  that  on 
making  the  inquiry  of  the  text,  the  answer  we  give  them 
implies  a  new  heart ;  whereas  the  inquiry  they  intended 
to  make  was,  how  they  should  obtain  a  new  heart. 
They  wish  to  know  how  they  must  operate,  with  their 
evil  hearts  of  unbelief,  so  as  to  have  them  renewed.  Now 
to  this  question  we  can  give  no  answer.  We  know  of 
no  process  by  which  an  ungodly  man  may  work  himself 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  by  believing  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  We  can  tell  them  to  do  nothing,  that  does 
not  imply  holiness ;  and  if  we  should,  they  might  do  as 
we  direct  them,  and  still  be  lost ;  whereas  they  ask  us, 
what  they  must  do  to  be  saved.  If  to  this  question  they 
wish  an  honest  answer  that  will  do  them  any  good,  we 
must  assure  them,  that  having  been  brought  to  approve 
of  the  law  they  have  broken,  they  must  also  approve  of 
the  remedy  provided,  must  commit  their  souls  to  Jesus 
Christ.     These  conditions  can  never  be  altered. 

3.  When  faith  has  accepted  the  atonement,  and  sin  is 
forgiven,  there  must  be  a  life  of  obedietiee,  as  that 
which  can  alone  express  the  soul's  continued  approbation 

5* 


50  TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE. 

of  the  law  that  has  been  violated,  and  the  remedy  that 
has  been  provided.  Repentance  for  sin,  and  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  are  not  exercises  belonging  merely  to  the 
first  stages  of  piety,  and  to  be  then  done  with  forever. 
The  man  who  is  born  of  God  continues  to  hate  sin,  and 
trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  till  he  dies.  He  docs  not 
give  the  law  one  approving  look,  and  the  Saviour  one 
welcome  to  his  heart,  and  then  relapse  into  his  former 
impenitence  and  unbelief.  He  renews  his  repentance 
day  by  day,  and  as  often  makes  fresh  application  to  the 
blood  of  sprinkling,  for  pardon  and  acceptance.  His 
whole  life,  if  he  honour  the  religion  he  professes  to  em- 
brace, is  filled  up  with  obedience  to  the  law,  with  sorrow 
and  tears  for  having  broken  it,  and  with  the  testimonials 
of  a  cordial  approbation  of  the  atonement  made  upon 
the  cross. 

We  know  nothing  of  that  religion,  which,  after  taking 
root  in  the  heart,  can  lie  dormant  for  years,  and  produce 
no  transforming  influence  upon  the  man,  conforming 
him  to  the  truth,  or  moulding  him  into  the  image  of 
Jesus  Christ.  God  will  not  forgive  sin,  and  take  away 
the  curse,  and  enter  into  an  everlasting  covenant  with 
the  transgressor  ;  and  then  permit  him  to  go  into  exile 
from  his  presence,  and  be  again  an  alien  from  the  com- 
monwealth of  Israel,  and  a  stranger  from  the  covenants 
of  promise ;  and  live  without  hope  and  without  God 
in  the  world. 

He  calls  in  his  elect,  only  in  time,  however  early,  to  fit 
them  for  his  presence  in  glory.  And  the  work  of  grace 
goes  on  from  that  time  till  death.  They  aim  at  a  perfect 
obedience  to  the  divine  law,  and  go  from  strength  to 
strength,  till  every  one  of  them  appeareth  in  Zion  before 
God.  They  forget  the  things  that  are  behind,  and  reach 
forth  to  those  things  which  are  before,  and  press  toward 


TERMS  OF  DIVINE  ACCEPTANCE.  51 

the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Hence  there  cannot  be  any  very  long  sus- 
pension of  those  exercises,  which  are  essential  at  the 
beginning  of  a  course  of  piety.  The  heart  continues  to 
be  penitent,  and  believing  and  obedient,  till  all  sin  is  re- 
moved, and  grace  is  perfected  in  glory.      I  close  with 

REMARKS. 

1.  Let  lis  compare  all  this  with  what  is  some- 
times termed  the  gospel.  How  wrong  and  how  ruin- 
ous is  the  advice,  that  not  unfrequently  is  given  to  the 
unregenerate. 

We  have  known  when  pains  was  taken  to  prevent 
men  from  becoming  alarmed,  so  as  to  put  the  question  of 
the  text  with  earnestness.  They  must  not  hear  that  the 
heart  is  desperately  wicked,  lest  they  should  fear  that 
in  all  their  deeds  they  have  broken  the  law  of  God. 
They  must  have  no  suspicion  that  their  prayers  are  de- 
ficient, lest  they  should  see  their  need  of  a  Saviour.  They 
must  be  told  nothing  of  hell,  lest  they  should  be  afraid  of 
its  torments  ;  nor  hear  of  election,  lest  they  learn  that  men 
will  not  accept  of  mercy,  till  they  are  made  willing  in 
the  day  of  God's  power. 

And  thus  every  doctrine,  calculated  to  pour  honour 
upon  the  divine  law,  and  reflect  correspondent  shame 
and  reproach  upon  the  transgressor,  must  be  disproved, 
or  concealed,  or  neutralized  ;  and  that  perhaps  by  the 
very  men  who  have  been  sent  as  the  heralds  of  salvation 
to  a  lost  world.  We  have  seen  them  afraid,  lest  with- 
out design,  they  should  effect  some  alarm  among  the 
foes  of  God.  Hence  the  monstrous  abuse  of  that  text, 
when  any  hard  truth  had  leaked  out ;  "  But,  beloved, 
we  are  persuaded  better  things  of  you,  and  things  that 


52  TERMS  OF  DIVINE  ACCEPTANCE 

accompany  salvation,  though  we  thus  speak."  Ten 
thousand  consciences,  that  had  been  pierced  with  truth, 
have  thus  been  healed  slightly,  by  a  text  which  God  in- 
spired for  far  other  purposes.  But  when  no  soothing 
opiate  would  answer,  and  the  sinner  could  not  be  pre- 
vented from  alarm,  we  have  known  advice  to  be  given 
that  was  the  most  ruinous  possible. 

We  have  known  when  awakened  sinners  have  had 
suggested  to  them  a  train  of  thought  calculated  to  chase 
away  all  alarm,  by  lessening  their  respect  for  the  vio- 
lated law.  It  is  pleaded  that  they  have  misapprehended 
their  guilt ;  that  the  law  is  not  so  severe  as  they  imagine, 
and  moreover,  that  the  mercy  of  God  will  not  allow  him 
to  punish  sinners  forever.  What  parent,  say  these  ten- 
der hearted  instructors,  would  cast  his  child  into  a 
quenchless  fire?  Will  God  punish  eternally  the  errors 
of  a  few  years  ?  God  will  be  moved  by  their  tears,  and 
will  pardon  them,  if  indeed  their  grief  has  not  alrea  ly 
done  away  their  guilt.  Thus  their  anguish  of  heart  is 
all  soothed,  while  yet  there  is  no  repentance! 

We  have  known  when  the  awakened  were  told,  that 
they  were  in  a  fair  way  to  obtain  religion,  that  they  must 
persevere,  and  hold  out,  and  they  would  do  well.  But 
unhappily  their  way  was  the  way  to  death,  and  they 
did  persevere  perhaps,  and  their  alarms  were  soon  gone, 
and  they  are  seen  in  the  broad  way,  or  are  gone  to  know 
the  full  weight  of  that  curse  of  the  law  which  once  hung 
over  them.  Had  they  been  told  that  there  was  nothing 
holy  in  their  terrors,  and  that  they  were  still  insecure, 
till  they  applied  by  faith  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they 
might  have  obtained  eternal  life.  They  should  have 
known,  that  they  had  not  overrated  their  danger,  nor 
half  estimated  their  guilt,  that  God  was  angry  as  they 
supposed,  that  there  was  a  perdition,  as  deep,  and  dark, 


TEKMS  OF  DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE.  53 

and  hopeless  as  they  feared.  Then  there  might  have 
been  a  prospect  that  they  would  flee  for  refuge,  to  lay 
hold  on  the  hope  set  before  them  in  the  gospel. 

The  case  is  said  to  have  happened  when  they  have 
been  directed  to  a  novel,  or  a  party,  to  chase  away  their 
glooms.  A  journey  in  the  country,  or  a  visit  to  their 
friends,  the  song  and  the  dance,  have  been  considered  a 
better  specific  for  their  pains,  than  the  atoning  Lamb  of 
God.  Let  it  be,  that  these  are  extreme  cases,  still  means 
like  these  have  often  been  resorted  to,  in  order  to  do 
away  alarm,  and  soothe  the  waking  conscience.  But  it 
will  wake  again  in  the  day  of  death,  and  gnaw  with  a 
still  keener  appetite  from  the  day  of  judgment  onward. 

Finally,  any  instruction  given  awakened  sinners,  that 
they  may  comply  with  and  still  perish,  is  cruel  and 
treacherous.  Say  to  them  as  Paul  did,  and  you  are 
safe,  and  they  too,  if  they  follow  your  advice.  And  they 
will  be  as  likely  to  do  their  whole  duty,  as  any  part  of 
it.  Christ  will  bless  only  that  intruction,  which  comes 
up  to  the  standard  he  has  given  us.  O,  let  not  the  lips, 
that  should  pour  out  only  truth  that  should  help  the  sin- 
ner to  a  full  acquaintance  with  his  sins,  and  press  his 
conscience,  till  he  shall  feel  that  he  cannot  do  an  hour 
without  Christ ;  be  employed  to  stop  the  progress  of  con- 
viction, and  through  a  mistaken  tenderness,  bind  up  the 
rankling  wound,  ere  the  probe  has  reached  its  centre,  or 
it  has  disgorged  its  putrescence.  When  the  sinner,  un- 
der the  management  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  in  a  fair  way 
to  become  thoroughly  convinced  of  his  misery  and  his 
ruin,  let  not  the  work  be  arrested  in  its  progress,  and  the 
ear  be  assailed  with  the  sound  of  peace,  till  heaven  is 
once  made  sure. 

The  prodigal  is  alarmed  for  his  life,  and  grieved  al- 
most to  distraction  for  his  baseness  of  conduct,  and  has 


54 


TERMS  OF  DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE. 


his  face  turned  homeward,  but  a  being  meets  him,  pre- 
tending to  be  his  father's  friend,  and  sent  to  guide  him  in 
the  way  to  his  house,  and  bears  him  into  a  hopeless  and 
returnlesa  exile  !  He  casts  a  veil  over  the  filth  and  rags 
of  the  vagabond,  tells  him  of  his  native  virtues,  admonish- 
es him  to  make  one  more  effort  to  live  without  his  father, 
and  the  wretch  believes,  and  turns  his  face  from  home, 
and  perishes  in  his  profligacy.  So  many  a  sinner,  just 
at  the  moment  when  he  began  to  think  on  his  ways, 
when  his  sins  were  staring  him  in  the  face,  when  there 
was  seen  distinctly  the  countenance  of  an  offended  God, 
and  when  there  began  to  be  some  thought  of  repairing  to 
a  Saviour,  has  been  misdirected  and  destroyed. 

Instead  of  saying  as  St.  Paul  did,  "  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  we  set 
about  making  him  happy  in  some  other  way.  He  must 
mend  his  life,  and  send  up  some  prayer,  and  wait  at 
the  pool,  and  hold  on  his  way  : — Yes,  all  this  would  be 
well,  were  he  now  a  believer.  But  the  misery  of  the 
case  is,  he  is  yet  unsanctified,  his  heart  is  set  in  him  to 
do  evil,  and  the  controversy  between  him  and  God,  is 
yet  at  its  height.  He  must  stop  and  turn  back,  or  lose 
heaven.  He  yet  knows  not  enough  about  his  sins  to 
render  a  Saviour  welcome.  He  still  dares  to  stand  on 
the  margin  of  perdition,  and  has  a  disgust  for  holiness 
and  heaven  so  implacable,  that  he  will  risk  all  the  dan- 
ger he  is  in  a  little  longer,  rather  than  give  his  heart  to 
Jesus  Christ. 

Tell  him  now  of  waiting  God's  time,  and  attending 
on  the  means ;  when  God  s  time  has  gone  by  these 
thirty,  forty,  sixty  years,  and  means  have  had  no  effect 
all  that  time  !  Ah,  I  am  afraid  you  will  amuse  him  till 
his  day  of  mercy  has  gone  by,  and  he  perishes  in  his 
bondage.     The  manslayer  is  fleeing  from  the  avenger 


TERMS  OF  DIVINE  ACCEPTANCE.  55 

of  blood,  the  road  before  him  parts,  a  post  is  erected,  and 
a  board  on  it,  on  which  is  written  in  large  capitals, 

REFUGE^ 
while  the  finger  of  a  man's  hand  points  to  his  course. 
He  can  only  read  a  single  word,  and  must  run  while  he 
reads.     If  he  stops  to  breathe  he  perishes. 

Now  such  is  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  when  it 
comes  in  contact  with  a  sinner  anxious  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  It  can  lose  no  time  in  directing  him  to 
the  Lamb.that  was  slain.  It  must  urge  him  to  a  place  of 
safety,  and  when  the  danger  is  over,  then  tell  him  of 
means,  and  urge  him  to  prayer,  and  press  a  reform,  and 
build  him  up  for  heaven.     I  proceed  to  a 

2.  Remark.  We  may  gather  from  this  subject  a 
reason,  why  revivals  of  religion  in  some  instances, 
add  so  little  to  the  strength  of  the  churches.  Ihe 
lax  instruction  sometimes  given  to  awakened  sinners  at 
such  a  time,  even  by  well  meaning  men.  who  aim  to  be 
faithful,  tends  to  nourish  a  growth  of  piety,  that  is  sickly 
and  effeminate,  and  will  finally  add  but  little  to  the 
vigour  and  beauty  of  Zion.  I  know  that  if  souls  are 
converted  they  will  get  to  heaven,  and  blessed  be  God 
if  he  will  convert  them,  but  their  usefulness  in  this  life, 
much  depends  on  their  early  instruction. 

Let  the  doctrines  be  kept  hid  from  those  who  are 
coming  into  the  kingdom,  and  let  there  be  detailed  only 
that  soothing,  indistinct,  and  sickly  instruction,  which 
has  been  noticed,  and  the  converts,  when  made,  will 
go  halting  along  to  heaven,  and  the  church  and  its 
ministry  have  very  little  comfort  in  them,  or  help  from 
them. 

They  will  scarcely  know  what  converted  them,  whe- 
ther truth  or  error.  It  was  truth,  I  know,  for  God 
sanctifies  through  the  truth;  but  there   was  so  much 


56  TERMS  OF  DIVINE  ACCEPTANCE. 

mingled  with  it  as  to  render  it,  in  their  own  view, 
doubtful  which  produced  the  effect.  And  having  asso- 
ciated the  kindness  of  their  youth,  the  love  of  their 
espousals,  with  so  much  indistinctness  of  doctrine,  they 
will  be  likely  ever  after,  to  court  this  same  darkened  ex- 
hibition of  the  gospel,  and  finally  die  before  they  shall 
have  learned  what  truth  is.  And  while  they  live,  they 
will  be  liable  to  be  driven  about  with  every  wind  of  doc- 
trine, and  vex  the  church,  and  embarrass  the  ministry, 
and  pass  perhaps  from  one  denomination  to  another,  and 
finally  be  saved  though  as  by  fire. 

They  will  be  doubtful  who  converted  them.  They 
wTere  told  when  under  alarm,  to  do  many  things  toward 
their  own  conversion,  and  they  did  them,  and  they 
were  finally  converted ;  but  whether  they  did  it  them- 
selves, or  whether  God  did  it,  they  find  it  hard  to  tell. 
And  they  will  give  others  the  same  darkened  counsel 
that  was  given  them.  Thus  God  is  robbed  of  the  glory 
due  to  his  name,  and  the  churches  filled  up  with  mem- 
bers, who  will  hang  a  dead  weight  upon  every  revival 
that  shall  happen  in  the  church,  till  they  are  taken 
up  to  heaven,  and  taught  there  what  ihey  should  have 
learned  that  same  week  in  which  they  were  born  of 
God. 

And  they  may  never  find  out  in  this  world,  what  they 
were  converted  for.  Men  will  be  active  in  duty,  only 
as  they  are  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  truth.  In  all 
men,  truth,  or  what  they  think  is  truth,  is  the  spring  of 
action.  Hence  some  whole  churches,  in  this  day  of 
Christian  enterprise,  can  be  brought  to  do  nothing  ;  and 
the  reason  is,  because  they  know  nothing  distinctly.  If 
you  could  enlighten  them,  they  would  act,  but  they  will 
not  be  enlightened.  The  secret  is,  they  were  born  in  a 
dark,   misty,  and    debilitating    atmosphere,   and  they 


TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE.  57 

choose  to  live  and  die  in  the  same.  Let  some  good  man 
who  knows  and  loves  the  truth,  go  into  one  corner  of 
such  a  society,  and  there  be  active  and  faithful  a  few 
years,  till  the  Christians  know  what  they  were  born 
again  for,  and  that  corner  of  the  church  shall  be,  from 
that  time,  worth  all  the  rest,  in  any  labours  to  which 
God  shall  call  his  people. 

I  know  not  but  that  we  have  here  one,  and  that  not 
a  very  inefficient  cause,  why  so  many  ministers  have 
been  quarrelled  away  from  their  people,  immediately 
after  some  great  revival.  The  faithful  and  laborious 
servant  of  God  had  gathered  into  the  church  a  multitude 
of  converts,  and  expected  much  from  them,  but  had  not 
prepared  them  to  be  useful  ;  and  when  at  length  he 
urged  them  to  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance,  they 
contended  with  him.  If  any  should  consider  this  a 
bold  suggestion,  then  I  hope  they  will  make  a  happier 
one,  and  take  away  this  reproach  from  the  churches.  I 
cannot  believe,  that  a  revival  of  religion,  effected  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  under  a  distinguishing  gospel,  will  tend  to 
unsettle  its  ministry.  But  I  can  easily  believe,  that  one 
who  knows  and  loves  the  truth,  may  hold  it  back  in  a 
time  of  awakening,  to  the  incalculable  injury  of  those 
who  are  born  again,  and  at  the  risk  of  his  own  sudden 
removal  from  his  flock.  He  is  afraid  to  give  them 
strong  meat,  and  feeds  them  with  what  he  terms  milk 
but  which  proves  to  be  poison,  and  they  wither  under  it, 
and  he  is  punished  for  administering  it.  Thus  is  fulfill- 
ed that  inspired  adage,  "  He  that  will  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it ;  but  he  that  will  lose  his  life,  for  my  sake, 
and  the  gospel,  the  same  shall  save  it." 

Finally,  let  me  say  to  lost  men,  haste  your  escape  to 
Jesus  Christ.  You  stand  in  imminent  danger  of  perdi- 
tion every  moment.   Your  ruin  is  nearer,  and  your  guilt, 

6 


58  TERMS    OF    DIVINE    ACCEPTANCE. 

far  greater,  than  you  ever  conceived.  That  sinner  that 
has  been  the  most  afraid,  has  never  been  half  enough 
afraid,  of  the  wrath  of  God.  It  burns  to  the  lowest 
hell,  and  when  you  fall  beneath  it,  your  courage  will  all 
be  gone  in  a  moment.  "  Can  thine  heart  endure,  or 
can  thine  hands  be  strong,  in  the  days  that  I  shall  deal 
with  thee?" 

You  see  what  the  terms  are,  and  God  will  never  alter 
them,  on  which  you  can  be  accepted  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  They  are  the  best,  and  the  only  terms  that 
could  be  offered.  They  secure  the  honour  of  the  divine 
law,  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  the  eternal  life  of  the 
sinner.  They  are  humbling  terms,  and  to  reach  the 
case  they  must  be. 

Now  will  you  stand  quarrelling  with  the  truth  till  you 
perish  ?  Is  this  the  right  course  for  a  sinner  ?  You 
thus  harden  your  heart,  and  sear  your  conscience,  and 
provoke  your  doom.  "  Now  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is 
the  day  of  salvation."  May  God  bless  his  own  truth, 
and  make  it  a  fire  and  hammer  to  break  in  pieces  the 
flinty  rock.     Amen. 


SERMON    XLV. 

CHRIST  CONDUCTS  TO  HEAVEN  A  HOLY  PEOPLE. 

Titus  ii.  14. 

Who  gave  himself  for  us,  that  lie  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and 
purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,   zealous  of  good  works. 

More  than  eighteen  hundred  years  since,  we  were 
visited  by  a  stranger  from  a  foreign  world.  Two  ques- 
tions were  immediately  agitated.  Who  is  he  ?  and 
What  his  errand  ?  He  settled  them  both  ;  but  they 
have  come  up,  again  and  again,  to  the  present  day. 
A  previous  discourse  had  a  bearing  upon  the  first 
of  these  questions,  and  the  text  now  before  us  will 
require  us  to  attend  to  the  second.  It  is  selected,  you 
will  remember,  from  that  very  book  which  he  left  with 
us,  on  purpose  to  answer  every  inquiry  that  men  would 
need  to  make  respecting  himself  and  his  mission.  We 
learn  in  the  context,  who  it  was  that  thus  gave  himself 
for  us,  '-The  great  God,  even  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.'' 

My  readers  are  aware,  that  the  same  men,  who  deny 
that  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  great  God,  differ 
as  widely  from  the  apostle,  relative  to  the  part  he 
acted  for  us.  They  would  allow  that  he  was  com- 
missioned to  make  known  to  us  the  will  of  God,  espe- 
cially the  fact  of  a  resurrection,  which  nature  did  not 
reveal,  and  establish  Christian  ordinances,  and  set  us  an 
example  of  virtue.     That  his  death  was  vicarious,  or  a 


60  CHEIST    CONDUCTS    TO    HEAVEN 

substitute  for  our  condemnation,  they  would  generally, 
and  I  presume  universally  deny. 

Now,  if  we  need  a  Saviour  to  do  more  for  us  than  this, 
then  we  need,  not  the  one  they  offer,  but  whom  the 
apostle  exhibits  to  our  view  in  the  text.  If  my  sins 
must  be  atoned  for,  if  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief  must  be 
removed,  and  when  sanctified,  I  must  still  be  accepted 
through  the  merits  and  the  righteousness  of  another ; 
then  I  need  a  Saviour  to  do  more  for  me  than  teach  me 
truth,  and  give  me  ordinances,  and  be  my  pattern  in 
virtue. 

Had  my  ruin  consisted  merely  in  having  lost  a  know- 
ledge of  God  and  duty,  an  angel  might  have  become  my 
instructer,  and  his  example  would  have  answered  me 
the  same  purpose,  as  that  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  would 
have  seemed  in  that  case  wholly  unnecessary,  that  God 
should  be  manifest  in  the  flesh.  But  if  the  whole  heart 
was  faint,  as  well  as  the  whole  head  sick  ;  if  there  hung 
over  us  the  curse  of  a  broken  law,  and  we  were  so  alien- 
ated from  God  as  to  b3  content  in  perpetual  exile  from 
his  service  and  his  fellowship  ;  then  both  instruction  and 
example,  if  nothing  more  were  done,  would  be  wholly 
lost  upon  me. 

What  can  it  avail  to  present  truth  or  exhibit  purity, 
before  a  mind  that  disrelishes  moral  beauty,  unless  pro- 
vision is  made  to  subdue  the  aversion  of  the  heart  1 
And  even  then,  how  could  I  be  happy  with  the  curse 
of  a  broken  commandment  pendent  over  my  head  ?  O, 
give  me  such  a  Saviour  as  Paul  describes,  or  when  all 
is  done,  there  is  left  undone  the  main  thing  requisite,  to 
my  obedience  and  my  blessedness.  If  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  came  merely  to  instruct  me,  so  did  the  prophets 
and  the  apostles ;  and  their  example,  had  their  hearts 
been  perfectly  holy,  would  have  been  all  I  needed  on 


A    HOLY    PEOPLE.  61 

this  point ;  and  thus  either  of  them  might  have  been  my 
Saviour  as  really  as  he  who  is  now  frequently  exhibited 
as  the  only  Redeemer. 

If  I  must  be  content  with  a  Saviour,  who  is  merely 
my  schoolmaster ;  I  am  led  to  ask,  Why  so  much  said 
of  him  previously  to  his  advent  >.  Did  prophets  anticipate 
his  approach  many  thousand  years  ;  and  martyrs  hang 
their  hopes  on  him  so  long  ;  and  angels  announce  his 
ingress,  soon  as  the  time  was  out ;  and  spent  the  night 
by  his  manger ;  and  a  voice  from  heaven  name  him  the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  ; 
and  was  this  mighty  personage,  who  so  long  held  a 
world  ill  agonized  suspense,  merely  some  teacher  com- 
ing to  do  for  us  what  any  man,  if  commissioned,  could 
have  done  as  well?  Is  Jehovah  accustomed  thus  to 
pour  honour  upon  a  creature,  sent  on  an  errand  no  more 
grand  than  this  ? 

"  Is  ocean  into  tempest   wrought, 

To  waft  a  feather,  o'r  to  drown  a  fly?" 

No  man  can  have  a  very  deep  sense  of  sin,  and  not 
feel  his  need  of  having  done  for  him  more  than  all  this. 
He  who  owes  ten  thousand  talents,  and  has  nothing  to 
pay,  will  need  a  Saviour  who  can  take  that  debt  upon 
him.  He  who  has  drawn  upon  himself  the  denuncia- 
tions of  his  Maker's  law,  will  need  a  Saviour  to  bear 
that  burden  for  him.  He  who  has  a  carnal  mind,  that 
is  enmity  against  God,  is  not  subject  to  his  law  nor  can 
be,  will  wish  a  Saviour  who  can  subdue  that  heart  to 
loyalty  and  duty.  And  he  who.  after  all  this  is  done, 
dare  not  hope  for  heaven,  unless  taken  by  the  hand,  by 
some  mighty  Prince,  and  led  every  inch  of  the  way  till 
he  is  within  its  threshold,  will  inquire  if  no  such  Captain 
of  his  salvation  is  provided  1  And  he  will  open  his  Bible, 
6* 


62  CHRIST  CONDUCTS  TO  HEAVEN 

and  read  a  single  sentence,  and  there,  the  great  God, 
even  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  for  whose  appearing  to 
judge  the  world  his  people  are  looking,  is  the  very  pro- 
tector and  friend  he  needs ;  "  Who  gave  himself  for  us, 
that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works." 
The  text  furnishes  a  natural  division  of  thought,  and 
will  need  the  aid  of  no  numerical  distinctions. 

Who  gave  himself  for  us.  His  presentation  at  the 
altar  of  justice,  as  our  victim,  was  his  own  act.  He  is 
not  seized  and  bound,  as  the  barbarous  nations  secure 
their  victims,  willing  or  unwilling ;  nor  comes  to  the 
altar  as  Isaac  did,  not  knowing  where  the  lamb  was 
for  a  burnt  offering.  He  had  power  to  lay  down  his 
life,  and  power  to  take  it  up  again.  Not  merely  was 
he  given,  although  this  was  true,  but  he  gave  himself. 
And  it  was  not  merely  his  time,  and  strength,  and 
patience,  that  he  gave,  as  instructers  do,  but  his  life. 
How  easily  could  he  have  blighted  all  our  hopes  in  that 
dark  hour.  Had  he  sent  Judas  to  his  own  place,  or 
rendered  him  an  honest  man,  when  he  came  to  steal 
the  be'traying  kiss ;  or  had  he  struck  lifeless  that  mid- 
night band,  that  came  to  apprehend  him  ;  or  had  he  let 
down  into  hell  that  senate  chamber,  with  its  mass  of 
hypocrisy  ;  and  paralized  the  sinews  of  that  soldiery 
that  crucified  him  ;  ihen  had  there  been  none  to  betray, 
arrest,  or  murder  the  Lamb  of  God.  And  he  had  all 
this  power  in  himself,  else  he  did  not  give  himself 
He  who  goes  to  death  without  his  choice,  by  a  power, 
human  or  divine,  that  he  cannot  control,  cannot  be  said 
to  lay  down  his  life  :  his  life  is  taken  from  him. 

But  the  Sufferer  of  Calvary,  when  he  left  the  bosom 
of  the  Father,  had  his  eye  fixed,  and  through  his  whole 
life  kept  it  fixed  upon  the  scene  of  the  cross,  as  the 


A    HOLY    PEOPLE.  63 

finishing  act  of  his  humiliation,  and  felt  not  that  his 
work  was  done  till  he  yielded  his  life.  Hence,  while 
it  is  true  that  the  Father  gave  his  Son,  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  Son  gave  himself.  He  was  as  voluntary 
in  redeeming  the  world,  as  in  the  act  that  built  it. 

Who  gave  himself  for  us.  Here  each  word  has 
meaning.  Who  are  we  to  understand  by  us  ?  Not 
Paul  himself  and  the  good  brother  in  the  gospel  to 
whom  he  wrote,  merely.  If  another  apostle  may  de- 
cide, the  Lord  Jesus  Cnrist  was  "  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins  ;  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world."  I  have  no  wish  now  to  enter  the 
list  in  that  controversy,  which  never  should  have  been 
among  brethren  who  hold  the  Head,  whether  the  atone- 
ment, as  distinguished  from  redemption,  is  general  or 
limited.  Those  who  do  not  distinguish  atonement  from 
redemption,  must  limit  it,  or  avow  the  salvation  of  all 
men ;  and  those  who  do  thus  distinguish,  may  with 
propriety  make  atonement  general,  and  still  are  not 
accountable  for  a  consequence,  which  is  made  to  follow, 
not  on  their  principles,  but  that  of  their  opponents. 

Is  there  not  a  common  ground,  where  those  who 
love  the  truth  can  and  must  meet  ?  Neither  of  the 
parties,  to  whom  I  now  refer,  assert,  that  God  has 
purposed  or  will  accomplish  the  salvation  of  all  men, 
through  the  atonement  of  Christ ;  nor  on  the  other 
hand,  will  deny,  that  the  atonement  places  the  human 
family  at  large,  in  circumstances  happily  differing  from 
that  of  devils.  To  men  there  go  out  overtures  of  mercy, 
to  devils  none.  But  does  it  not  follow,  that  if  mercy  is 
offered,  and  the  offer  sincere,  salvation  is  possible  ;  that 
is,  the  obstructions  are  removed  on  the  part  of  God,  that 
would  have  kept  men  from  heaven,  even  had  they 
repented  ?     and   this   is   precisely  what  I  understand 


64  CHRIST    CONDUCTS    TO    HEaVEN 

those   to   mean,    who  make    the    atonement   general. 
The  death  of  Christ  rendered  it  possible  for  God  to  save, 
without  dishonouring  his  law,  or  weakening  his  govern-' 
ment,  as  many  as  it  should  please  him  to  sanctify. 

And  what  is  the  force  of  the  preposition,  for  us  .'  Can 
it  mean  less  or  more,  than  that  the  death  of  Christ  was 
a  substitute  for  our  condemnation  ?  this  idea  is  certainly 
consonant  with  the  whole  drift  of  revelation.  "  He 
hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows ;  he  was 
wounded  for  our  transgressions,  and  bruised  for  our 
iniquities  ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon 
him  ;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed  : — the  Lord 
hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all:—  for  the  trans- 
gressions of  my  people  was  he  stricken/'  Thus  the  griefs, 
and  the  sorrows,  and  the  wounds,  and  the  bruises,  the 
chastisements,  and  the  stripes,  all  fell  on  him  by  substi- 
tution, and  were  borne  instead  of  the  everlasting  miseries 
of  hell,  which  we  must  have  borne,  had  he  not  offered 
himself  as  our  ransom. 

The  apostle  proceeds  to  make  known  to  us  the  design 
with  which  the  Saviour  gave  himself  for  us,  "  That  he 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  ms." 
There  are  here  included  pardon,  and  sanctification. 

First,  pardon.  The  sinner  can  neither  be  consider- 
ed as  redeemed  from  iniquity,  or  purified,  while  his 
conscience  is  polluted  with  unpardoned  sin.  He  is  still 
under  the  curse  of  the  law,  has  the  brand  of  infamy 
upon  him,  and  the  badges  of  death  around  him.  Hence, 
when  he  believes,  and  pardon  can  be  administered, 
without  injury  to  the  divine  government,  his  cleansing 
from  the  defilement  of  sin  is  begun.  There  is  a  text  in 
one  of  the  minor  prophets,  which  though  spoken  with 
reference  to  the  church,  is  beautifully  expressive  of  this 
first  act  of  God's  mercy  to  sinners.     "  Who  is  a  God  like 


A    HOLY    PEOPLE.  65 

unto  thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the 
transgressions  of  the  remnant  of  his  heritage  7  He  re- 
taineth  not  his  anger  forever,  because  he  delighted  in 
mercy.  He  will  turn  again  ;  he  will  have  compassion 
upon  us  ;  he  will  subdue  our  iniquities  ;  and  thou  wilt 
cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea  "  And  in 
another  text  it  reads,  "  Their  sins  and  their  iniquities 
will  I  remember  no  more."  And  we  have  the  delight- 
ful idea  of  forgiveness  in  this  text,  <:  That  thou  may  est 
remember,  and  be  confounded,  and  never  open  thy 
mouth  any  more,  because  of  thy  shame,  when  I  am 
pacified  toward  thee  for  all  that  thou  hast  done,  saith 
the  Lord  God."  The  very  first  act  of  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  secures  this  blessing,  and  we  stand,  though 
not  on  the  same  footing  as  if  we  had  never  sinned,  yet 
the  same  as  relates  to  our  exposedness  to  the  penalties 
of  the  law.  The  transgressions  of  the  law,  that  had 
been  minuted  against  us  in  the  record  of  the  divine 
mind,  are  blotted  out.  God  even  speaks  as  if  he  would 
forget  them,  and  never  suffer  them  to  come  into  his 
mind  again. 

But  pardon,  as  rich  a  blessing  as  it  is,  to  a  sinner 
made  sensible  of  his  gross  and  dreadful  departure  from 
God,  holds  a  place  second  in  importance  to  that  of 
sanctification.  Hence  to  purify  us,  was  an  important 
part  of  the  work  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  came  to 
do  for  us  ;  by  which  I  understand,  delivering  us  from 
the  power  of  sinful  affections.  This  is  done  through 
the  immediate  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  is  ascribed 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  inasmuch  as  the  Spirit  acts  a 
part  in  the  economy  of  redemption,  subordinate  to  that 
of  the  Mediator,  and  is  spoken  of  as  sent  by  him.  He 
takes  away  the  heart  of  stone  and  gives  a  heart  of  flesh, 
and  creates  us  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works. 


66  CHRIST  CONDUCTS  TO  HEAVEN 

Christ  is  formed  in  his  people  the  hope  of  glory  ;  his 
image  is  impressed  on  the  heart ;  and  the  lineaments 
of  that  image  are  drawn  out  to  view  in  deeds  of  loyalty 
and  duty. 

Thus  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  brings  his  people  to  feel 
like  him,  to  love  his  character,  his  law.  his  government, 
and  kingdom,  and  all  the  duties  of  piety,  and  bene- 
volence. And  his  purpose  and  promise  is,  that  where 
he  has  begun  a  good  work  he  will  carry  it  on,  till  all 
moral  pollution  is  eradicated.  Thus  the  character  of 
man,  under  the  transforming  influence  spoken  of  in  the 
text,  is  changed,  till,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  he  is  no 
longer  the  same  man.  From  being  a  child  of  wrath 
fitting  for  destruction,  he  becomes  an  heir  of  God,  and 
a  candidate  for  glory,  honour,  immortality  and  eternal 
life.  The  desire  to  be  holy,  and  so  like  his  Master, 
becomes  his  ruling  passion.  In  his  estimation  conformi- 
ty to  God.  in  the  whole  temper  of  his  mind,  is  the 
greatest  good  ;  and  no  hope  gives  him  such  a  joy,  as 
when  he  can  say  with  confidence,  •'  Then  shall  I  be 
satisfied  when  I  wake  with  thy  likeness." 

While  the  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  are  thus  under 
a  process  of  sanctification,  they  become,  as  a  matter  of 
course  in  a  world  like  this,  a  'peculiar  people.  They 
have  desires,  and  hopes,  and  enjoyments,  and  fears,  and 
aversions,  such  as  are  found  in  no  other  people.  They 
have  another  employment,  and  form  other  habits,  and 
sustain  new  relationships,  and  enter  new  society,  and 
in  their  speech  and  demeanour,  embracing  a  thousand 
nameless  things,  become  a  peculiar  people.  Whatever 
pains  they  may  take  to  conceal  their  peculiarities,  they 
become  and  continue  like  no  other  people  on  the  face  of 
the  whole  earth.  And  the  more  they  act  in  character  ; 
the  nearer  they  live  to  their  Master,  the  more  sure  are 


A    HOLY    PEOPLE.  67 

they  to  widen  the  contrast  between  themselves,  and  the 
world  of  the  ungodly.  Hence  the  world  will  soon  know 
them,  and  break  from  their  fellowship,  and  cast  out 
their  names  as  evil  ;  and  Christ  will  receive  them,  and 
be  a  God  unto  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people. 

They  are  zealous  of  good  works.  Here  perhaps  more 
than  at  any  other  point  is  seen  their  peculiarity.  The 
promptness,  the  pains,  and  the  sacrifices  manifested  in 
doing  good,  render  them  the  perfect  contrast  of  any 
thing  seen  in  the  habits  of  unsanctified  men,  Hence 
the  fact  is  not  to  be  disputed,  that  the  personal  efforts, 
and  charities  that  have  been  expended  upon  human 
misery,  degradation,  and  contempt  have  been  the  efforts 
and  the  charities  of  this  peculiar  people.  On  the  list 
of  this  world's  benefactors  their  names  are  arranged 
alone,  and  the  catalogue  will  tell1  to  their  advantage 
in  that  day  when  the  Saviour  shall  be  heard  to  say, 
"  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat :  I  was 
thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink  :  I  was  a  stranger,  and 
ye  took  me  in  :  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  :  I  was 
sick,  and  ye  visited  me :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came 
unto  me." 

The  ungodly  may  have  fits  of  charitable  feeling,  when 
provision  is  to  be  made  exclusively  for  the  life  that  now 
is  ;  but  their  charities  do  not  usually  extend  in  their  ef- 
fects beyond  the  grave.  When  urged  to  enlighten  those 
that  know  not  God,  or  snatch  from  death  those  that  have 
not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  they  lack  the 
faith  that  can  give  importance,  to  these  religious  and 
spiritual  realities.  And  yet  here,  where  the  tender  mer- 
cies of  the  wicked  are  cruel,  is  the  very  spot  where  the 
godly  display  their  warmest  zeal,  and  make  their  best, 
their  mightiest  efforts.  The  zeal  of  God's  people  is  uni- 
form and  extensive,  and  does  not,  like  "  crackling  thorns 


68  CHRIST  CONDUCTS  TO  HEAVEN 

and  burning  coals,   make  a  great  blaze  and  die."     It 
grows  out  of  the  combined  influence  of  the  Christian 
affections,  or  rather  is  the  Christian  affections  concen 
trated,  and  pouring  out  their  energies  upon  the  object 
of  their  commisseration  or  praise. 

Christian  zeal  aims  to  render  this  world  what  God 
would  have  it ;  to  draw  it  back,  from  alienation  and  mi- 
sery, to  subjection  and  enjoyment.  It  would  cure  every 
species  of  plague  and  suffering,  and  render  holy,  respect- 
ed, and  happy  every  child  of  the  fall.  And  when  men 
need  not  its  aid,  would  compassionate  the  animal  crea- 
tion, till  not  a  worm  should  suffer.  Thus  will  operate 
the  zeal  that  piety  begets,  and  thus  the  redeemed  of  Jesus 
Christ,  will  be  rendered,  in  a  world  cold  and  friendless 
like  this,  a  peculiar  people. 

There  is  still  another  thought  in  this  text,  which  though 
last  is  not  least.  These  redeemed,  and  peculiar,  and 
zealous  beings,  Jesus  Christ  issaid  to  purify  unto  himself. 
I  see  a  very  precious  thought  here ;  they  belong  finally 
to  him.  They  were  given  him  in  the  covenant  of  re- 
demption. Hence  we  hear  him  say,  in  that  remarkable 
prayer  just  before  he  suffered,  "  I  have  manifested  thy 
name  unto  the  men  which  thou  gavest  me  out  of  the 
world."  And  lest  any  should  draw  a  wrong  inference, 
from  the  fact  that  as  Mediator  he  was  a  recipient,  he 
addresses  the  Father  again,  and  says,  "All  mine  are  thine, 
and  thine  are  mine."  His  people  are  to  be  his  associates 
forever ;  his  family  ;  his  friends ;  his  admirers,  and  his 
worshippers.  "  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast 
given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am  ;  that  they  may  behold 
my  glory." 

There  is  something  in  this  thought  which  to  me  be- 
speaks the  Saviour  divine.  Were  he  a  mere  servant, 
were  he  less  than  the  very  builder  and  proprietor  of  thia 


A  HOLY  PEOPLE. 


world,  he  could  not  have  been  given  a  commission  of 
such  a  nature,  as  to  entitle  him  to  possess,  and  call  his 
own,  the  beings  he  should  save  :  else  it  would  not  be  true, 
that  the  Eternal  cannot  give  his  glory  to  another.  Thus 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  came  to  redeem  to  himself,  by  his 
death,  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works.  I  close 
with  a  few  paragraphs  of 


EXPOSTULATION 


With  such  as  cannot  relish  this  mortifying  gospel.  1 
am  fully  aware,  and  lament  it,  that  every  position  taken 
in  this  discourse  is  controverted  ;  and  my  apology  for  the 
view  I  have  given,  is,  that  I  could  in  honesty  give  no  other. 

Man's  lost  and  desperate  condition,  requiring  an  atone- 
ment, is  found,  in  one  shape,  and  another,  on  almost  every 
page  of  the  Bible,  and  his  safety  depends  on  knowing  it, 
and  the  gospel  was  sent  to  acquaint  him  with  it ;  hence 
this  must  be  a  radical  truth  in  every  message  which  we 
carry  from  God  to  man.  Moreover,  we  see  men  exhibit 
that  temper,  and  form  those  habits,  which  would  teach 
us  their  ruin,  if  we  had  not  been  taught  it  from  heaven. 
Now  a  truth  that  comes  to  us  so  confirmed,  we  musl 
receive,  and  must  proclaim  ;  and  if  men  will  not  believe 
it,  or  if  they  do  not  choose  to  lay  it  to  heart,  we  can  only 
say  with  the  prophet,  ;'  If  ye  will  not  hear,  my  soul  shall 
weep  in  secret  places  for  your  pride."  If  you  can  keep 
your  apostacy  a  secret  from  your  fellow-men,  or  from 
angels,  or  from  devils,  do;  and  if  you  can  hide  the 
shame  of  it,  do ;  and  if  by  such  a  course  you  can 
escape  the  dire  consequences  of  that  apostacy,  do. 
We  wish  you  safe,  and  wish  you  happy,  and  if  you  know 
of  a  safer  or  happier  course  than  this  gospel  presents, 
you  have  but  to  make  the  experiment.  But  then  re- 
member, if  your  experiment  fails,  and  you  do  not  find 

7 


70  CHRIST   CONDUCTS  TO  HEAVEN. 

out  your  ruin  till  death,  you  must  not  calculate,  that 
your  mistake  can  then  be  corrected. 

If  you  are  conscious  of  some  depravity,  and  still  can- 
not makeup  your  mind  to  owe  your  redemption  to  the 
death  of  Christ,  then  you  must  reject  the  Bible  or  explain 
it  as  you  can.  The  text  says  he  gave  himself  for  us- 
And  we  hear  him  say,  "  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep.' 
And  many  scriptures  that  have  been  quoted,  and  more 
that  might  be,  seem  evidently  to  put  his  blood  in  the  place 
of  ours,  and  heal  us,  if  we  are  ever  healed  by  his  stripes- 

Why  object  to  the  idea  that  he  died  for  us.  Docs  it 
too  much  degrade  and  blacken  the  human  character, 
that  we  must  thus  come  as  it  were  to  the  place  of  execu- 
tion, and  have  the  halter  about  our  nec's,  and  there  stand 
and  see  another  take  our  place,  and  hang  upon  the  tree 
in  our  stead  ?  I  know  it  will  be  the  everlasting  disgrace 
of  our  world,  that  we  should  have  so  conducted  as  to 
render  it  necessary  that  Christ  should  die  lor  us.  But  it 
will  deepen  our  disgrace,  if  we  deny  the  fact,  and  assign 
some  other  reason,  not  the  true  one,  why  the  Lord  of 
glory  was  hanged  on  a  tree.  We  shall  then  crucify  him 
afresh,  and  put  him  to  open  shame. 

If  his  was  not  a  vicarious  death,  why  did  he  die  ? 
Do  you  answer,  "  Death  hath  passed  upon  all  men 
for  that  all  have  sinned. "  Then  it  seems  you  make 
him  a  sinner  1  But  the  good  Book  assures  me,  that 
there  was  no  guile  found  in  his  mouth.  Satan  came 
and  found  nothing  in  him.  He  was  a  Lamb  without 
spot.  Do  you  say  that  he  died  to  finish  out  his  obe- 
dience 1  Obedience  to  what  law  ?  Does  the  law  of 
God  require  that  his  perfectly  obedient  subjects  should 
die  ?  or  is  death  there  made  the  wages  of  sin  ?  I  see 
no  demand  for  his  death,  unless  he  died  for  us,  or  was 
a  sinner.     If  you  are  not  driven  to  the  same  alternative, 


A    HOLY    PEOPLE.  71 

and  can  invent  a  third  reason,  more  satisfactory,  you  must 
adopt  it,  and  make  the  Bible  bear  you  out  in  it  if  you  can. 

Do  you  object  to  this  gospel  because  it  requires  that 
you  be  purified  ?  Then  it  seems  you  doubt  whether  sin 
has  polluted  you  ?  And  if  so  why  have  any  gospel  1  or 
you  choose  to  carry  all  your  moral  deformity  with  you 
into  the  grave,  and  into  eternity  ?  and  if  so,  then  we  un- 
derstand you.  You  have  only  to  let  the  gospel  alone 
then,  and  let  others ;  who  would  not  choose  to  die  in 
their  sins,  have  the  benefit  of  its  overtures. 

A  gospel  that  shall  not  render  men  holy,  can  be  worth 
nothing.  It  may  gather,  and  baptize,  and  cast  the 
senclosures  of  a  covenant,  about  a  congregation  of  word- 
lings,  but  if  it  have  no  purifying  effect,  it  will  leave  them 
still  the  children  of  their  father  the  devil.  They  will  be 
as  fair  candidates  for  perdition,  when  such  a  gospel  shall 
have  exerted  upon  them  its  mightiest  influence,  as  when 
its  first  accent  broke  upon  their  ear.  But  a  gospel  like 
that  which  Paid  preached,  must  urge  the  claims  of  the 
divine  law,  and  press  men  to  break  off  their  sins  by 
righteousness,  and  turn  their  feet  to  God's  testimonies. 
It  will  gather  motives  to  holiness  from  all  worlds,  from 
the  fear  of  hell,  from  the  hope  of  heaven,  from  the  com- 
fort of  the  present  life,  and  especially  from  the  love  of 
Christ ;  for  it  will  "  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all, 
then  were  all  dead  :  and  that  he  died  for  all,  that  they 
which  live  should  not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves, 
but  unto  him  which  died  for  them,  and  rose  again." 
Now  let  us  be  prudent  enough  to  have  this  very  gospel, 
or  none.  If  we  wish  merely  to  be  amused,  let  us  not 
employ  a  gospel  to  do  it,  but  the  pipe,  the  timbrel,  and 
the  dance.  If  we  care  not  how  much  pollution  adheres 
to  us  wThen  we  are  judged,  then  let  us  cast  the  gospel 
and  the  whole  Bible  from  us,  and  enter  into  a  covenant 


72  CHRIST    CONDUCTS    TO    HEAVEN 

with  death,  and  make  an  agreement  with  hell,  and  eat 
and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die. 

But  you  dislike  the  peculiarity  urged  upon  believers 
in  the  gospel.  You  wish  not  to  be  singular,  and  be 
cast  out  of  the  world  while  you  remain  in  it.  Well,  we 
simply  say,  that  there  can  be  no  go-pel  gathered  from 
the  Bible,  that  does  not  urge  it,  nor  Christian  character 
without  it.  If  the  truth  must  render  men  holy,  it 
must,  in  a  world  like  ours,  render  them  peculiar.  In 
two  respects  the  good  man,  from  the  moment  he  is  born 
of  God.  becomes  unlike  the  men  of  this  world.  All  the 
features  of  depravity  that  are  cast  from  his  character, 
and  the  features  of  holiness  ingrafted  on  it,  will  tend  to 
render  him  peculiar.  Thus  in  two  directions  will  the 
difference  widen,  and  will  go  on  extending  through 
time  and  through  eternity.  To  produce  this  peculiarity 
is  the  very  design  of  the  gospel ;  for  men  by  nature 
are  unlike  God,  and  the  gospel,  when  it  produces  its 
legitimate  effect,  renders  men  like  God.  Hence,  unless 
it  sanctify  all  men,  or  the  regenerate  are  taken  imme- 
diately to  heaven,  it  must  introduce  into  society  a  peculiar 
people.  If  you  are  offended  with  this  peculiarity,  then 
you  need  not  put  it  on.  You  can  live  in  this  world 
without  it,  and  you  can  die  without  it,  but  you  cannot 
live  in  heaven  without  it. 

That  zeal  begotten  in  his  people  by  the  grace  of 
God,  constitutes  I  know  the  most  offensive  feature  of 
their  peculiarity.  But  God's  people  cannot  be  without 
it,  and  please  him.  And  he  has  never  promised  to 
render  his  people  what  the  world  can  admire.  "  If  ye 
were  of  the  world,  the  world  would  love  his  own,  but 
because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen 
you  out  of  the   world,    therefore  shall  the  world  hate 


A    HOLY    PEOPLE.  73 

you."  You  need  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  people, 
or  imbibe  their  zeal  if  it  offends  you.  There  is  current 
a  gospel,  and  you  can  attend  upon  it,  that  pours  out 
against  this  zeal  the  whole  torrent  of  its  invective.  It 
would  nourish  a  cold  philosophical  religion,  that  shall 
never  reach  or  warm  the  heart,  that  will  have  but 
little  to  do  with  prayer,  or  praise,  or  holy  feeling,  or 
heavenly  aspiration,  or  effort  to  save  souls  ;  or  take 
away,  in  any  shape,  the  curse  that  has  lighted  upon 
this  dark  world.  You  can  take  your  pew  under  such 
a  gospel  and  never  be  urged  to  zeal  and  engagedness. 
But  where  it  will  conduct  you,  may  demand  a  doubt. 
Not  to  heaven  surely,  where  they  cease  not  day  nor 
night  saying,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  of  hosts ; 
the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory."  There  must  be 
great  zeal  where  there  is  such  perpetual  worship.  Day 
and  night !  O,  how  such  zeal  as  this  would  be  lashed 
and  scouted  in  this  cold  and  cheerless  world  ! 

But  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  aims  to  make  this 
world  as  much  like  heaven  as  possible ;  would  beget 
all  the  zeal  they  have  there,  and  all  the  industry,  and 
all  the  celestial  fire.  We  hide  not  our  wish,  to  render 
men  in  this  world  as  much  in  earnest  in  serving  God, 
and  blessing  his  creatures,  as  they  are  in  heaven.  And, 
sure  as  you  breathe,  you  have  never  seen  a  zeal  like 
that  in  heaven.  It  was  not  in  Paul,  nor  Peter,  nor 
Brainard,  nor  Whitefield,  nor  Martin.  And  if  you 
have  ever  once  seen  enough  any  where  to  offend  you, 
depend  upon  it  you  could  not  stay  in  heaven  an  hour. 

Finally,  it  offends  you,  that  the  Saviour  should  be 
the  proprietor  of  the  church  he  purchased  with  his  blood. 
You  would  have  him  an  agent,  a  prophet,  a  messenger  ; 
you  would  not  allow  him  to  own  his  sheep ;  you  would 
make  him  an  insignificant  subject  of  that  kingdom  he 

7* 


74  CHRIST    CONLXTCTS    TO    HEAVEN,    ETC. 

purchased  with  his  blood.  And  why  this  zeal  to  de- 
grade him  ?  Did  he  not  earn  the  kingdom  with  his 
stripes,  and  his  wounds,  and  his  sweat,  and  his  dying 
agonies  ?  And  did  he  not  build  the  very  world  in  which 
he  has  set  up  this  kingdom  ?  The  apostle  thought  proper 
to  speak  of  his  purifying  to  himself  a  peculiar  people. 

And  why  not  let  them  be  his  ?     Are  you  afraid  to  be 
his?  Would  it  grieve  you  to  be  a  member  of  his  family, 
and  have  a  seat  at  the  supper  of  the  Lamb  ?     Well, 
dear  friend,  there  will  come  a  day  when  you  will  be 
afraid,  if  you  are  not  his.     When  he  shall  come  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  and  all  his  holy  angels  with  him,  and 
the  last  trumpet  shall  have  waked  you  from  the  sleep  of 
the   grave,    then     '  he  that  believeth  shall  not  make 
haste/'  but  all  others, — oh,   with  what  hurry   and  con- 
fusion will  they  quit  their  sepulchres  !    and  with  what 
untold  anguish    will    they  call   upon  the  rocks   and 
mountains,  to  fall  on  them  and  hide  them  from  the  face 
of  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath 
of  the  Lamb  !  Will  you  not  then  wish  that  you  were  his  ? 
Ye  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  did  it  ever  occur  to  you 
how  precious  a  thought  this  is.    You  belong  to  this  very 
Lord  Jesus.     "  Ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's." 
How  safe  and  how  happy,  if  he  can  make  you  so !  and 
you  have  no  fear  but  he  can.     Cast  all  your  care  upon 
him,  for  he  careth  for  you.     You  will  see  him  come 
directly  to  gather  you,  and  you  will  hail  him  as  he 
comes,  "  My  Lord,  and  my  God."     My  soul  casts  in 
her  lot  with  you.     We  glory  in  belonging  to  Christ,  and 
look  wishfully  toward  that  hour,  when  we  shall  see  him 
as  he  is  and  be  like  him.     Then,  almighty  Redeemer, 
then  shall  I  be  satisfied  when  I  wake  with  thy  likeness. 
Amen. 


SERMON    XLVI. 

CHRIST   MUST    HAVE    HIS    OWN    PLACE    IN 
HIS  GOSPEL. 

Lukf.  \x.  20. 
Whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ? 

Admitting  the  fact,  that  men  may  speculate  cor- 
rectly, while  their  hearts  are  unsanctified ;    or  to  some 
extent  incorrectly,  after  they  are  born  of  God  ;  still  it  is 
a  general  truth,  that  men  will  be,  in  their  moral,  and  in 
their  religious  character,  corrupt  or  correct,  in  the  same 
proportion  with  their  creed.     If  on  any  important  sub- 
ject they  believe  a  lie,  their  false  faith  will  present  to  their 
hearts  wrong  motives  of  action,  and  lead  to  those  affec- 
tions, and  that  course  of  conduct,  that  is  in  opposition  to 
the  law  of  God,  and  the  precepts  of  the  gospel.     But  if 
men  believe  the  truth,  though  it  be  not  with  the  heart 
unto  righteousness,  still  that  truth  may  exert,  at  some 
future  day,  a  sanctifying  effect  upon  them,  and  the  creed 
adopted,  through  the  Spirit's  influence,  mould  them  into 
the  image  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     And  if  there  is  one 
subject,  rather  than  any  other,  on  which  a  serious  man 
would  guard  the  correctness  of  his  faith,  it  must  be  rela- 
tive to  the  character  of  the  Saviour  he  trusts  in  for  eter- 
nal life.     It  must  be  essential,  that  we  put  our  trust  in 
the  very  Redeemer  that  God  has  revealed  ;  else  how  can 
we  hope  that  he  will  acknowledge  us,  when  he  shall 
come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  with  the  holy  angels. 


76  CHRIST    MUST    HAVE    HIS    OWN    PLACE 

Can  it  be  otherwise,  than  a  very  important  thing,  to 
the  human  family,  to  understand  distinctly,  his  nature 
and  character,  in  whom  they  are  invited  to  take  sanctu- 
ary from  the  wrath  to  come  ?  Hence,  to  know  that  the 
gospel  proclaimed  to  us,  presents  the  very  Lord  Jesus, 
through  whose  stripes  we  must  be  healed,  will  be  a  ques- 
tion of  minor  importance  to  none,  who  calculate  first  or 
last,  to  turn  their  eye  toward  heaven. 

In  Christ's  little  family,  this  subject  was  early  and 
earnestly  agitated.  Our  Lord  would  not  suffer  his  disci- 
ples to  be  ignorant  on  this  point.  "  He  asked  them 
saying,  Whom  say  the  people  that  I  am  ?  They  an- 
swering, said,  John  the  Baptist ;  but  some  say,  Elias  ;  and 
others  say,  that  one  of  the  old  prophets  is  risen  again." 
He  then  brought  the  question  home  to  their  own  bosom, 
"Whom  say  ye  that  1  am?"  Said  the  prompt  and 
affectionate  Peter,  «  The  Christ  of  God." 

This  subject  is  of  high  and  increasing  importance,  at  a 
period,  when  it  is  becoming  so  fashionable,  to  consider 
it  of  no  consequence  what  we  think  of  Christ.  It  will 
not  be  so  much  my  object  to  exhibit  proofs  of  his  divinity, 
as  to  show,  that  whatever  his  character  may  be,  it  is  im- 
portant that  we  have  correct  views  of  him.  I  shall 
arrange  my  thoughts  under  three  general  remarks : 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  a  fixed  and  definite  charac- 
ter :  This  character  is  plainly  revealed  :  If  we  trust  in  a 
Saviour,  having  any  other  character  than  that  revealed 
in  the  Scriptures,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  not  consider 
this  trust  as  reposed  in  him,  and  we  shall  be  in  danger  of 
perishing  in  unbelief. 

1.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  a  fixed  and  definite 
character.  It  would  hardly  seem  necessary  to  state  a 
proposition  like  this,  much  less  to  attempt  to  establish  it 
by  argument,  as  it  contains  in  itself  its  own  confirma- 


IN    HIS  GOSPEL. 


77 


tion.  The  scriptures  have  given  this  name  to  the  prom- 
ised Messiah,  who,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  must 
have  a  character  so  definite,  that  he  can  be  known  by 
his  name.  But  if  the  name  may  apply,  with  equal  pro- 
priety, to  one  who  is  divine,  angelic,  or  human,  here  it 
seems  to  me  is  the  end  of  all  knowledge  on  this  subject. 
Place  other  subjects  of  revelation  on  the  same  footing, 
and  we  can  only  guess  at  any  thing. 

The  very  idea  of  a  revelation  implies,  that  there  are 
truths  revealed,  but  nothing  is  revealed,  if  revealed  so 
indefinitely  that  we"cannot  arrive  at  knowledge  on  the 
subject.  As  well  might  the  Bible  have  merely  named 
the  Saviour,  if  after  all  it  has  said  of  him,  we  can  know 
only  his  name  ;  especially  if  it  be  an  equal  chance,  whe- 
ther we  shall  conceive  of  him  as  one  of  the  Three  that 
bear  record  in  heaven,  or  a  worm  of  the  dust  like  our- 
selves. If  God  has  told  me  only  the  name  of  the  Re- 
deemer, and  this  is  all  the  definite  knowledge  I  can  have 
of  him,  I  may  be  so  infatuated  as  to  apply  this  name  to 
a  comet  or  a  star,  and  affirm  that  God  intended  I  should 
trust  in  this  for  salvation.  If  he  has  left  it  to  my  discre- 
tion to  adorn  the  name,  with  attributes,  such  as  I  would 
choose  my  Saviour  should  possess,  then  is  it  manifest 
that  no  two  might  trust  in  the  same  Redeemer. 

But  there  is  an  absurdity  in  the  very  supposition. 
Every  thing  that  has  being,  has  properties  that  are 
essential  to  its  being,  of  which  if  you  disrobe  it,  you 
take  away  its  very  essence.  Thus  it  must  be  with  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You  may  call  by  that  name  a  being, 
so  divested  of  the  attributes  that  belong  to  the  Saviour, 
that  he  shall  cease  to  be  the  Saviour  God  has  revealedj 
and  be  as  entirely  another  as  if  he  had  had  another 
name.  The  identity  of  being  is  not  in  the  name  but  in 
the  nature  or  attributes  that  belong  to  it.     I  remark, 


78  CHRIST    MUST    HAVE    HIS    OWN    PLACE 

II.  The  character  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
plainly  revealed  in  the  word  of  God.  We  might  infer 
this  from  the  fact,  that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from 
God  ;  and  that  the  principal  subject  of  development  in 
that  Book  is  the  Saviour.  The  Bible  was  given  us  to 
make  Christ  known,  that  we  might  take  sanctuary  in 
him  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Hence,  to  suppose  that  his 
character  is  left  so  indefinitely  developed  that  we  can 
know  nothing  with  certainty  respecting  him,  is  to  sup- 
pose God  to  trifle.  There  is  an  impudence  and  a 
daring  in  the  very  supposition  that  causes  the  mind  to 
shrink  from  naming  it. 

Moreover  on  opening  the  Bible  I  do  see  the  character 
of  the  Saviour,  as  definitively  developed  as  any  other  of 
the  subjects  of  revelation.  I  see  distinctly  his  humanity, 
in  that  he  had  a  body  and  a  soul  as  men  have.  He 
hungered,  thirsted,  slept,  was  weary  ;  could  suffer,  could 
rejoice ;  he  spoke,  and  walked,  and  rode,  and  bled,  and 
died.  And  I  see  as  distinctly  his  divinity.  He  created 
all  things,  could  make  the  bread  and  the  wine  that  sus- 
tained him,  could  know  the  hearts  of  men,  could  heal 
the  sick,  and  raise  the  dead,  and  give  sight  to  the  blind, 
and  still  the  waves  of  the  sea.  And  1  will  name  one 
text,  among  many,  in  which  he  is  predicted  with  all 
these  characteristics  :  "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us 
a  son  is  given :  and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his 
shoulder:  and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful, 
Counsellor,  the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father, 
the  Prince  of  Peace."  Here  the  same  personage,  who 
was  a  child  and  a  son,  is  also  the  Wonderful,  Counsellor, 
the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of 
Peace. 

But  on  this  point  I  will  only  stop  to  say,  that  on  no 
particular  is  the  Bible  more  full  and  plain  than  on  this. 


IN    HIS    GOSPEL.  79 

On  none  of  the  doctrines  or  duties  of  religion  have  we 
instruction  more  definite.  I  may  as  well  doubt  what 
repentance  is,  and  what  faith  is,  and  what  love  is,  and 
what  prayer  is,  as  who  Christ  is.  I  can  explain  away 
the  truth  on  any  point  as  readily  as  relative  to  the 
Character  of  the  Saviour.  And  moreover  on  every  point 
the  truth  has  been  doubted,  and  mistakes  as  essential 
made,  as  on  this  point.  Men  who  are  not  willing  that 
the  Bible  should  govern  their  faith,  have  missed  the 
mark  infinitely  on  every  doctrine  of  revelation. 

III.  If  we  trust  in  a  Saviour  having  any  other 
character  than  that  given  in  the  Bible  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  he  will  not  accept  this  trust,  as  reposed 
in  himself ;  and  we  shall  be  in  danger  of  perishing 
If  Christ  has  a  definite  character,  and  he  must  have,  or 
he  can  neither  be  known  or  trusted  in  ;  and  if  his  char- 
acter is  revealed  plainly,  and  this  must  be,  or  it  is  no 
harm  not  to  know  him,  or  to  have  erroneous  views  of 
him  ;  then  it  must  be  essential  that  we  trust  in  the  very 
Christ  revealed.  If  in  these  circumstances  wre  believe 
him  to  be  possessed  of  a  character  that  he  has  not,  if  we 
invest  him  with  attributes  that  he  will  not  own,  or  de- 
tract from  him  the  essential  and  eternal  properties  of  his 
nature ;  will  he  pity  our  weakness,  and  own,  as  confi- 
dence in  him,  the  trust  we  place  in  a  Saviour  created  by 
our  imaginations  1  This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  fatal 
error  which  multitudes  in  the  present  day  are  persuaded 
to  adopt.  It  has  in  its  favour  the  plea  of  Catholicism. 
We  can  thus  fellowship  the  whole  mass  of  nominal 
Christianity  ;  and  on  the  same  principles  can  even  go 
farther,  and  place  the  image  of  the  Saviour  in  the  tem- 
ples of  the  gods,  and  embrace  in  one  universal  brother- 
hood, the  whole  multitude  of  idolaters  that  have  ever 
bowed  the  knee  at  the  shrine  of  devils. 


80  CHRIST    MUST    HAVE    niS    OWN    PLACE 

On  the  same  principle,  that  no  harm  comes  to  our 
piety  from  erroneous  views  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we 
can  prove  that  God  has  been  pleased  with,  and  has  ac- 
cepted, every  act  of  worship  that  has  ever  been  paid  to 
an  idol.    What  is  an  idol,  but  the  supreme  so  degraded  that 
he  ceases  to  be  divine  ?  and  still  not  more  degraded  than 
is  the  character  of  the  Saviour  in  many  a  modern  creed. 
What  was  Jupiter,  but  Jehovah  disrobed  of  his  essential 
attributes.     His  worshippers  did  not  reduce  him  down  to 
a  mere   man.      They  gave  him    supremacy   over   the 
whole  family  of  gods — allowed  him  to  wield  the  thun- 
ders of  heaven,  and  decree  the  destiny  of  nations.  True 
they  did  not  give  him  a  very  pure  moral  character,  but 
the  best  they  knew  how   to  give   him.     They  invested 
him  with  some  of  the  very  worst  of  the  human  passions, 
and  made  him  commit  the  foulest  deeds  of  wrong  and  of 
outrage.     But  still,  who  can  say,  on  the  piriciple  that  it 
matters  not  what  we  think  of  Christ,  that  the  worship- 
pers of  Jupiter  were  not  accepted  of  the  Lord  as  his  own 
worshippers.     If  they  called  their  great  spirit  by  names 
that  God  has  never  appropriated  to  himself,  this  it  will 
be  acknowledged  is  a  verbal  mistake,  a  small  matter, 
that  God  will  not  regard,  in  those  who  had  not  the  means 
of  knowing  the  names,  by  which  he  would  choose  to  be 
invoked.     But  shall  we  go  on  and  say,  that  as  they 
gave  their   supreme   deity  the  highest  character   they 
knew  how  to  give  him,  although  they  did  not  invest  him 
with  the  attributes  essential  to  the  true  God,  and  made 
him  finally  a  creature,  in  moral  character  base  and  de- 
formed:— Shall  we  still  say,  that  Jehovah  was  pleased 
with  the  spirit  of  their  worship,  approved  their  rites,  and 
accepted  their  homage  ?     I  see  not  why,  on  the  princi- 
ples of  modern  Catholicism,  this  reasoning  is  not  correct, 
and  why  the  whole  herd  of  idolaters,  in  all  ages,  have 


IN    HIS  GOSPEL.  8l 

not  been  accepted  of  the  Lord,  as  having  intended  to  pay 
their  supreme  homage  to     mi 

If  what  an  apostle  says  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be 
true,  and  "  By  him  were  all  things  created  that  are  in 
heaven,  an  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whe- 
ther hey  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or 
powers  ;  all  things  were  created  by  him  and  for  him  ; 
and  he  is  before  all  things,  and  by  him  all  things  con- 
sist :" — if  all  this  be  true,  1  see  not  but  those  who  give 
him  a  derived  and  dependant  existence,  al  er  the  charac- 
ter as  essentiall;',  from  that  which  the  apostle  gives  him, 
as  was  th<v  character  of  Jupiter  distinct  from  that  of  Je- 
hovah. What  two  things  can  be  more  unlike,  than  a 
Saviour  who  had  no  beginning  of  days,  is  self-existent, 
and  almighty,  could  create  men  and  build  worlds ;  and 
one  who  himself  began  to  be,  is  dependant,  and  has  none 
but  borrowed  attributes.  I  do  not  see  that  the  heathen 
Jove,  and  the  God  of  heaven,  differ  any  more. 

If  then  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  possesses  one  of  these 
characters,  and  we  trust  in  a  Saviour  who  possesses  the 
other,  and  the  Bible  has  plainly  revealed  him  in 
whom  we  are  to  trust,  it  hardly  admits  of  a  question 
whether  we  do  not  trust  in  another  than  the  Christ  of  the 
gospel.  It  is  not  merely  in  the  name  of  the  Saviour 
that  we  trust,  but  in  his  attributes,  in  his  qualifications  to 
atone  for  us,  in  his  power  to  sanctify  us,  in  the  credit  he 
has  in  heaven  to  intercede  for  us,  in  his  ability  to  sub- 
due our  enemies,  and  cover  us  with  his  righteousness  in 
the  day  of  retribution  ;  but  if  he  be  not  God  as  well  as 
man,  he  has  no  such  qualifications  to  atone,  no  such 
power  to  sanctify,  no  such  influence  to  intercede,  no  such 
ability  to  defend,  or  righteousness  to  cover  us ;  hence  there 
is  no  such  Saviour  as  him  in  whom  we  trust. 


82  CHRIST    MUST    HAVE    HIS    OWN    PLACE 

Agreed,  if  you  please,  that  the  en  or  will  be  equally 
fatal  on  either  side.  Be  it  so  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
is  a  mere  attribute,  an  emanation,  an  angel,  or  a  man  ; 
then  do  those  who  give  him  a  divine  native  make 
a  mistake  as  great,  as  is  made  by  their  opponents,  if  he 
be,  as  the  prophet  aserts,  the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting 
Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace.  If  he  be  a  mere  creature, 
in  whom  God  has  directed  us  to  put  our  trust  for  ever- 
lasting life ;  and  that  creature  has  power  delegated  to 
him,  to  pay  the  price  of  our  redemption,  and  purify  us 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works ; 
and  we  resolve  to  trust  in  a  Saviour,  who  possesses  divine 
attributes ;  we  then  rely  upon  one  who  is  not  revealed  as 
the  Saviour,  and  may  have  no  more  hope  of  acceptance, 
than  those  have  if  the  opposite  creed  be  true,  who  in  their 
faith  depress  his  character,  as  much  as  in  this  case  we 
elevate  it. 

If  the  Lord  Jesus  has  a  fixed  and  definite  character, 
has  properties  or  attributes,  of  which  if  we  disrobe  him, 
we  alter  essentially  his  nature,  and  make  him  another 
Saviour  ;  then  the  question  is,  whether  those  who  trust 
in  him,  under  these  essentially  altered  characters,  may 
all  be  said  to  trust  in  the  same  Redeemer  ?  May  a  mistake 
like  this  be  considered  venial  ?  If,  too,  God  has  given  us 
in  his  word  a  plain  and  intelligible  record  of  his  will,  and 
may  not,  as  it  seems  to  me,  be  considered  as  having 
described  the  character  of  the  Saviour  so  indefinitely,  aa 
to  render  it  about  an  equal  chance,  whether  we  shall 
conceive  of  him  as  human  or  divine  ;  then  must  it  admit, 
of  a  serious  doubt,  whether  any  radical  mistake  can  b« 
made,  without  placing  the  soul  at  hazard. 

God  must  have  intended  that  we  should  have  definite 
views  of  Christ ;  and  if  he  has  given  us  opportunity  to 


IN    HIS    GOSPEL. 


83 


be  correct,  it  argues  positive  wickedness,  not  to  receive 
the  truth  of  God  in  all  its  naked  simplicity.  If  he  has 
revealed  a  divine  Saviour,  we  perish  if  we  trust  in  one 
that  is  a  creature ;  or  if,  contrary  to  the  light,  we  be- 
lieve him  divine,  then  do  we  rely  on  some  other,  than 
that  only  name  given  under  heaven  among  men,  where- 
by we  can  be  saved.  No  trust  can  possibly  avail  us,  but 
that  which  is  placed  in  the  very  Saviour  whom  God 
has  revealed.  Let  me  place  the  two  Saviours  in  oppo- 
site columns,  and  see  if  an  honest  mind  can  make  them 
one. 


The  one  Saviour,  was  before  all 
things,  and  all  things  were  created 
by  him  and  for  him.  He  has  the 
titles,  possesses  the  attributes,  does 
the  works,  and  accepts  the  wor- 
ship, that  belong  only  to  the  true 
God.  He  invites  sinners  to  him, 
as  having  in  his  own  arm  the 
power  to  save  them,  and  promises 
them  blessings,  as  having  them  of 
his  own  to  give.  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  in  me  shall  never  die."  He 
"  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body 
on  the  tree."  "  With  his  stripes 
we  are  healed."  "The  Lord 
hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of 
us  all."  The  redeemed  in  heaven 
will  forever  ascribe  to  him,  under 
the  appellation  of  the  Lamb,  king- 
dom, and  power,  and  glory.  The 
dying  believers  may  with  Stephen 
commend  to  him  their  departing 
spirits.  In  the  last  day  he  will 
come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with 
his  holy  angels,  and  will  judge  the 
world,  and  fix  the  destinies  of  all 
men ;  and  be  forever  afterward 
adored,  by  the  myriads  of  the 
redeemed,  as  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain. 


The  other  saviour,  had  a  begin- 
ning of  days,  and  either  emanated 
from  God  or  was  created  by  him. 
He  has  divine  titles  only  as  men 
have,  who  are  called  gods ;  has 
only  borrowed  attributes,  and  a 
delegated  power,  and  is  worship- 
ped only  as  kings  and  emperors 
are.  We  may  not  pray  to  him, 
lest  we  be  guilty  of  idolatry  ;  he 
promises  nothing  but  as  the  Lord's 
prophet,  and  has  no  blessings  of 
his  own  to  give.  We  are  not  re- 
quired to  believe  in  him,  but  as 
we  believe  in  Moses  and  John. 
He  makes  no  atonement,  but 
merely  teaches  truth,  and  is  a  pat- 
tern of  virtue.  He  dies,  not  that 
we  might  live,  and  meets  us  again 
in  the  last  day,  not  to  judge  the 
world,  unless  as  a  subaltern,  but 
to  be  judged.  He  will  wear  no 
crown,  and  fill  no  throne  in  hea- 
ven, other  than  such  as  are  prom- 
ised the  apostles  ;  and  will  receive 
no  worship  but  the  inspect  due  to 
an  eminent  servant  of  God.  And 
if  the  dying  commend  their  spirit 
to  him  they  assuredly  perish. 


Now  the  mighty  question  is,  are  these  two  the  same  ? 
Are  they  so  the  same  that  the  trust  reposed  in  the  one* 


84  CHRIST  MUST  HAVE  HIS  OWN  PLACE 

will  be  accepted  and  answered  to,  if  needs  be,  by  the  other. 
If  but  one  of  these  Saviours  is  revealed,  and  but  one 
exist-,  and  we  have  put  our  trust  in  the  other,  are  we 
still  safe  1  Say  we  have  cast  our  souls  upon  a  created 
Saviour,  shall  we  find  at  last,  that  we  have  an  interest  in 
that  self-existent  Redeemer,  who  comes  travelling  in  the 
greatness  of  his  strength,  and  is,  independently  on  any 
extraneous  help,  mighty  to  save  'I  If  of  the  one  it  may 
be  said,  this  is  the  only  name  given  under  heaven  among 
men  whereby  we  can  be  saved,  will  this  be  equally  true 
of  the  other  ?  I  repeat  the  question,  for  it  is  to  me  a 
mighty  one,  Can  it  be  of  no  consequence,  to  which  of  the 
two  I  look,  and  in  which  I  trust  for  eternal  life  ?  Will 
the  blood  of  either  cleanse  me  from  all  sin  ?  If  the  Sa- 
viour appointed  me  and  distinctly  revealed  in  the  Bible, 
has  life  in  himself,  and  the  power  of  conferring  eternal 
life  on  as  many  as  the  Father  has  given  him ;  and  I 
have  trusted  in  man,  and  made  flesh  my  arm,  I  fear  it 
will  not  answer  me  the  same  purpose  in  the  day  of  retri- 
bution, as  if  I  had  made  application  to  the  true,  the 
appointed,  the  eternal  Redeemer. 

It  is  agreed,  that  if  there  be  no  Trinity  of  persons  in 
the  Godhead,  and  the  Saviour  proffered  is  a  mere  crea- 
ture, and  we  refuse  to  lean  upon  the  appointed  arm  of 
flesh,  and  obstinately  insist  on  having  an  almighty  Sa- 
viour or  none,  our  condition  is  deplorable.  We  shall  then 
be  without  a  hiding  place  in  the  day  of  our  distress.  If 
the  Saviour  be  God,  those  perish  who  esteem  him  a 
creature  ;  and  if  a  creature,  those  perish  who  believe 
him  God.  One  of  the  parties  in  this  controversy  is  to  lie 
down  in  everlasting  sorrow,  one  only  will  be  in  heaven. 
Else  two  beings,  the  one  finite,  and  the  other  infinite, 
are  the  same,  and  Jupiter  and  Moloch,  and  Baal,  and 
Jehovah  are  the  same3  and  the  worshippers  of  idols,  in 


IN  HIS  GOSPEL.  85 

every  dark  place  of  the  earth,  may  claim  at  last  a  seat  in 
heaven,  with  Abraham,  and  Moses,  and  the  prophets  and 
apostles. 

Can  this  be  true  ''  I  see  no  radical  error  in  the  rea- 
soning that  has  brought  me  to  this  result,  and  am  led  to 
ask,  with  all  the  seriousness  with  which  a  question  ever 
dropped  from  my  lips,  am  I  safe  in  either  case  ?  Has  the 
gracious  Jehovah  given  me  a  revelation,  in  which  he  has 
so  indefinitely  described  my  Redeemer,  that  with  all  my 
anxiety  to  know,  I  cannot,  whether  he  built  the  worlds, 
or  was  himself  a  part  of  the  creat  on  ?  whether  the  govern- 
ment is  upon  his  shoulder,  or  he  is  himself  subjected  to 
the  authnrity  of  his  superior  ?  whether  he  can  bestow 
eternal  life,  or  need  to  have  his  own  life  sustained  by  the 
power  that  breathed  it?  whether  he  will  judge  the  world, 
or  will  stand  to  be  judged,  by  a  greater  than  himself,  who 
shall  then  fill  the  throne '}  I  shall  be  anxious  for  my  soul 
till  I  know  the  truth. 

O,  will  the  blessed  God  give  to  a  world  like  ours, 
already  desperately  ruined,  a  revelation  of  his  will,  and 
mock  our  helplessn  ss,  by  asserting  it  to  be  so  plain,  that 
the  wayfaring  man  though  a  fool  shall  not  err,  and  still 
when  I  labour  to  know  the  truth  with  all  my  soul,  I  can- 
not find  it!  !  But  must  either  take  this  ground,  or 
believe  myself  lost,  or  believe  those  lost,  who*  I  perceive 
trust  in  quite  another  saviour,  than  him  on  whom  I  rely. 
There  is  one  thought  that  gives  me  relief,  "  Let  God  be 
true,  though  every  man  a  liar."  The  Bible  is  a  plain 
and  intelligible  volume  ;  the  Saviour's  character  is  there 
definitely  revealed;  and  we  can  learn  who  he  is,  and 
what  he  is,  unless  we  choose  to  be  deceived.  May  the 
exalted  Jesus  smile  on  this  weak  attempt  to  vindicate  his 
character,  and  may  he  sanctify  the  men  who  would  tear 
the  crown  from  his  head,  and  worlds  from  his  rule  ;  and 

8* 


86  CHRIST  MUST  HAVE  HIS  OWN  TLACE 

make  his  way  known  upon  the  earth,  and  his  saving 
health  among  all  nations.  May  a  great  multitude,  that 
no  man  can  number,  be  redeemed  to  God  by  his  blood, 
out  of  every  kindred  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation. 
If  asked  the  reasons  why  I  consider  this  subject  so  im- 
portant ?  and  press  it  so  vehemently  ?  I  answer, 

1.  With  the  vieivs  I  have  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
1  consider  him  shamefully  traduced  by  the  error  I 
have  meant  to  expose.  It  cannot  seem  to  me  a  light 
thing,  if  the  safety  of  souls  were  not  affected,  what  men 
think  of  Christ ;  whether  they  give  him  the  honour  he 
had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was,  or  make  him 
a  weak  and  dependant  mortal ;  whether  they  esteem  him 
such  that  he  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God, 
or  the  mere  wandering  Gallilean,  who  gathered  his  ho- 
nours from  the  success  he  had  in  teaching  truth  and  in 
making  disciples.  If  we  have  given  him  our  hearts,  we 
shall  not  be  willing  to  see  him  degraded.  We  shall  wish 
him  to  retain  all  the  titles  that  belong  to  him,  and  be 
owned  in  all  the  high  and  holy  offices  he  fills,  and  wear 
in  the  view  of  men,  all  the  glories  that  cluster  round  him 
in  the  view  of  angels.  We  shall  feel  ourselves  so  honoured, 
in  being  permitted  to  call  him  Lord,  as  to  be  greatly 
grieved  when  the  tongue  of  slander,  or  the  pen,  dipped 
in  the  gall  of  depravity,  shall  attempt  to  degrade  his  nature 
or  mar  his  honours.  A  Christian  needs  offer  no  other 
reason  for  vindicating  his  Lord,  but  that  he  loves  him. 
But, 

2.  I  offer  another  :  1  consider  souls  endangered  by 
a  denial  of  the  Deity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I 
cannot  believe  that  when  the  Saviour  has  become  a  man 
or  an  angel,  he  will  attract  sinners  to  him,  as  when  he 
has  the  glories  on,  that  I  suppose  the  angels  see  about  him. 
Let  him  have  the  same  character  that  he  has  in  heaven, 


IN  HIS  GOSPEL.  87 

and  he  will  attract  men  to  him,  as  there  he  attracts  an  gels 
to  him.  If  he  be  God,  they  will  hope  that  he  can  save 
them  ;  if  he  built  the  worlds,  they  will  be  the  more  wil- 
ling to  believe,  that  he  built  some  happy  world  for  them  ; 
and  if  he  is  at  last  to  be  their  judge,  they  will  feel  it  to  be 
the  more  important,  that  they  be  washed  from  sin  in  his 
blood.  I  should  not  hope  to  win  a  single  soul  to  him  in  a 
century,  in  the  low,  and  mean,  and  dependant  attitude,  in 
which  some  professed  ministers  of  the  gospel,  in  consist- 
ence with  their  faith,  must  present  him.  I  should  expect 
them  to  sneer  at  the  Nazarene,  more  than  did  Voltaire,  or 
Hume,  or  Bolingbroke.  And  I  do  not  believe,  that  under 
such  a  ministry,  Christ  is  often  embraced,  or  loved,  or  be- 
lieved in.  He  may  have  some  place  in  their  creed,  and 
may  become  a  topic  of  speculation,  and  controversy,  but 
in  their  religion,  and  in  their  hearts,  I  fear  they  learn  to 
do  without  him :  surely  he  is  not  formed  in  them  the 
hope  of  glory. 

3.  I  would  take  a  dying  hold  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ's  divinity,  because  on  the  same  principles  by 
which  the  faith  of  so  many  have  been  unsettled  on 
this  point,  every  truth  of  God's  word  can  be  cast 
away.  Only  suffer  the  enemy  to  have  the  ground,  and 
hold  it  in  peace,  which  he  would  take  to  drive  you  from 
this  doctrine,  and  he  will  leave  you  nothing  to  credit,  in 
the  whole  of  divine  revelation.  He  will  tear  you  from 
the  very  horns  of  the  altar,  and  sacrifice  you,  along  with 
your  Redeemer,  on  the  threshold  of  the  sanctuary  of  God. 

When  I  must  believe  nothing  that  is  above  my  reason, 
and  that  I  cannot  fully  comprehend,  I  may  not  believe 
the  simplest  testimony  of  revelation.  When,  from  the 
urgency  of  this  principle,  I  can  know  nothing  definite 
respecting  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  despair  of  gaining 
from  the  Book  of  God  any  definite  knowledge  on  any 


68  CHRIST  MUST  HAVE  HIS  OWN  PLACE 

subject.  Not  the  being  of  a  God.  or  his  government 
over  the  world,  or  the  fact  of  a  future  judgment,  or  an 
eternal  state  of  retribution,  is  revealed  with  any  more  de- 
finiteness,  than  the  underived  deity  of  Jesus  Christ.  I 
could  reason  them  all  away,  and  every  doctrine  and  pre- 
cept along  with  them,  by  the  same  sophistry,  by  which 
men  would  forbid  me  to  offer  my  prayers  to  the  risen  and 
exalted  Redeemer.  I  would  then  hold  to  the  doctrine, 
because  if  I  give  it  up,  I  must  give  all  up.  and  throw  my 
whole  creed  afloat,  and  myself  afloat,  to  be  drifted,  I  know 
not  where,  and  shipwrecked,  I  know  not  upon  what  inhos- 
pitable shore,  where  await  me,  death,  or  life,  I  know  not. 

4.  If  you  still  ask  me,  why  my  zeal,  in  defence  of 
the  higher  nature  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  I  answer 
yet  again,  "  If  it  be  possible"  and  "  the  very  elect" 
should  be  cajoled  into  a  doubt  on  this  subject,  it  would 
do  them  incalculable  injury. 

That  doubt  would  mar  their  creed ;  for  they  must 
yield  other  doctrines,  when  their  Redeemer  has  become 
a  creature.  That  atonement,  which  he  only  could 
make ;  that  ruin  of  our  nature,  which  he  only  can  re- 
pair ;  that  ever-enduring  hell,  from  which  he  only  can 
rescue  us  ;  that  Sabbath  which  his  rising  made ;  that 
Comforter,  which  he  kindly  sent ;  and  that  plenary  in- 
spiration of  the  scriptures,  which  establishes  his  divinity  ; 
must  be  all  plucked  from  their  creed,  and  it  would  stand 
then,  like  a  pine,  lightning-smitten,  scorched  in  its  every 
leaf,  and  rived  to  its  deepest  roots,  to  be  the  haunt  of  the 
owl,  and  the  curse  of  the  forest.  When  you  shall  blast 
my  creed  like  this,  you  may  have,  for  a  farthing,  the 
residue  of  my  poor  mutilated  Bible,  and  I  will  sit  down 
and  weep  life  away,  over  this  benighted  world,  to  which 
is  reserved  the  blackness  of  darkness  forever. 

It  would  diminish  their  comforts :  for  the  same  truth 


IN  HIS  GOSPEL. 


89 


that  has  sanctified  them,  has  made  them  happy ;  and 
no  truth  more  than  the  high  character  of  their  Redeemer. 
Take  away  this  foundation,  and  what  will  the  righteous 
do  ?  Their  hopes  have  been  high,  and  their  joy  elevated, 
and  their  songs  heard  in  the  night,  because  they  had,  or 
thought  they  had,  a  mighty  Redeemer.  From  this  fact, 
they  calculated  to  live  out  the  assaults  of  temptation,  and 
conquer  their  lusts,  and  hold  on  by  some  pin  of  the  cove- 
nant, till  they  should  plant  their  feet  on  the  golden  pave- 
ments of  the  New  Jerusalem.  Tell  the  church,  that  she 
has  no  such  almighty  Redeemer  as  she  has  dreamed 
of,  and  there  will  be  tears  in  all  her  tabernacles,  and  I 
fear  if  there  will  be  silence  through  half  the  choir  of 
heaven,  and  the  angels  of  God  be  afraid  any  longer  to 
worship  him. 

It  would  hurt  their  usefulness.  They  have  had  high 
hopes,  because  they  had  a  mighty  Redeemer,  and  were 
active  in  duty,  because  they  had  elevated  hopes.  Sap 
these  hopes,  and  you  sunder  the  very  sinew  of  action. 
Will  they  care  to  be  sanctified,  when  they  shall  have 
learned  that  their  Lord  was  peccable?  Will  they  press 
on,  to  see  him  as  he  is,  and  be  like  him,  when  they  shall 
doubt  whether  he  will  be  known  in  heaven  but  by  the 
nail-prints?  will  they  care  to  invite  others  to  him,  when  he 
is  robbed  of  all  the  charms  that  attracted  them  in  the 
days  of  their  espousals  ?  Will  they  pray  with  the  fervency 
they  have  done,  that  the  heathen  may  be  given  him  for 
his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
a  possession,  when  they  shall  know  that  he  is  to  rule  by 
delegation,  and  does  not  come  into  the  government  but 
by  heirship  ?  Will  they  spend  their  perishable  wealth  to 
honour  him,  when  they  shall  feel  assured,  that  he  has  no 
incorruptible  treasures  with  which  to  repay  them  ? 

How  is  it  with  those  who  have  made  the  experiment, 


90  CHRIST  MUST  HAVE  HIS  OWN  PLACE 

and  have  delivered  over  their  creed  to  be  blotted  and  in- 
terlined, till  the  Deity  of  their  master  is  gone,  and  every 
other  truth  that  hung  on  it.  Are  they  active  for  God? 
do  they  bless  the  heathen  with  the  gospel  ?  do  they  dis- 
seminate the  Bible  ?  do  they  press  the  consciences  of 
sinners,  in  their  daily  walk,  and  in  their  evening  visits, 
and  give  an  ungodly  world  no  rest,  till  they  love  their 
eclipsed  and  darkened  and  degraded  Redeemer? 

O,  hide  then  this  error  from  God's  elect,  and  let  them 
have  the  Saviour  they  are  disposed  to  serve,  till  he  take 
them  up,  and  show  himself  to  them  in  all  the  glory  that 
he  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was. 

I  naturally  close  with  the  question,  "  What  think  ye 
of  Christ  ?  "  This  question  faithfully  answered  by  the 
minister  of  the  gospel,  will  give  you  very  much  the  char- 
acter of  his  ministry ;  as  it  will  define  the  Saviour  he 
proclaims,  and  of  course  the  success  he  has ;  and  answered 
by  the  private  Christian  will  give  the  character  of  his 
religion.  I  do  not  now  mean  to  say  that  orthodoxy  is 
piety,  but  simply,  that  the  heart  that  has  been  sanctified 
through  the  truth,  will  apprehend  and  love  the  truth. 
In  other  words,  faith  will  credit  the  divine  testimony. 
Does  the  Lord  Jesus  hold  in  our  ministry,  and  our  creed, 
the  high  place  that  God  has  given  him  in  the  gospel? 
If  we  make  him  merely  a  teacher  and  a  pattern,  so  was 
Moses  and  Paul.  And  if  we  feel  that  we  need  no  higher 
Saviour,  then  is  it  doubtful,  whether  we  have  discovered 
more  than  half  our  ruin.  If  we  have  sunk  no  lower 
than  that  a  finite  arm  can  reach  us,  we  have  yet  I  fear 
to  learn  that  we  are  sinking  still,  and  that  the  pit  is  bot- 
tomless. A  gospel  that  is  the  contrivance  of  men,  will 
suit  only  those  who  have  never  felt  the  plague  of  their 
own  hearts.  When  we  shall  have  felt  the  full  pressure 
of  the  curse  that  rests  upon  us,  we  shall  feel  the  need  of 


IN  HIS  GOSPEL.  91 

one  to  save,  strong  as  him  that  created  us.  The  hor- 
rors of  our  condition  will  scare  from  u  \  every  deliverer 
but  him  who  can  quench  with  his  own  blood,  the  fires 
that  have  been  kindled  to  consume  us.  When  we  have 
looked  once  upon  the  incensed  throne,  we  shall  hail  one 
as  our  high  priest,  who  can  go  in  and  sprinkle  the  mercy 
seat;  who  can  neutralize  that  consuming  ire  which 
issues  from  the  countenance  of  a  provoked  Jehovah  ;  one 
who  has  that  influence  in  the  court  of  heaven,  that  he 
can  procure  our  acquittal,  andean  place  himself  in  the  van 
of  the  redeemed  multitude,  and  conduct  us  up  to  heaven, 
and  there  plead  his  own  merits  as  the  ground  of  our 
acceptance,  and  the  foundation  of  our  everlasting  bless- 
edness. "Amen,  even  so  come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly." 


SERMON    XLVII. 

THE   LAW    AND   THE    GOSPEL   CONJOINTLY 
SUSTAINED. 

Matthew  v.  17. 

Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets  :   I  am  not  come 
to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 

It  is  then  only  that  the  gospel  appears  in  all  its 
glory  ;  when  it  infringes  not  upon  the  sacred  rights 
of  the  law.  One  of  God's  institutions  must  not  eclipse 
the  glory  of  another.  God  did  not  make  provision  for 
the  salvation  of  men,  because  he  had  become  convinced 
that  he  had  issued  a  bad  law,  and  would  thwart  its  de- 
sign. The  law  stood  in  his  eye  as  glorious,  after  men 
had  drawn  its  curse  upon  the  i.  as  when  it  dropt  fresh 
from  his  lips  amid  the  smoke  of  Sinai.  When  he  insti- 
tuted the  law,  he  knew  that  men  would  break  it ;  and 
he  affixed  his  sanctions,  sure  that  all  our  race  would 
incur  them,  and  many  endure  them.  It  was  not  an 
experiment,  made  without  a  knowledge  of  the  result, 
but  with  the  result  provided  for. 

Hence  the  legal  and  the  gospel  dispensations,  are  but 
different  parts  of  the  same  benevolent  system  ;  by  which 
a  good  Jehovah,  would  bind  to  himself,  and  when  the 
bond  should  be  broken,  would  recover  and  restore  to  his 
love  and  favour,  beings  he  had  eternally  designed  should 
be  happy.  And  hence  our  Lord  thus  early  announced 
it  as  his  design,  not  to  abrogate  but  establish  the  law. 


THE    LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL,  ETC.  93 

Fixed  and  stable  as  were  the  ordinances  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  and  firm  the  earth  he  had  come  to  plant  his 
feet  upon,  these  should  all  pass  away,  while  not  a  jot 
or  tittle  of  the  law  should  fail. 

Accordingly,  as  the  Lord  Jesus  gathered  disciples,  and 
freed  them  of  course  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  he  still 
subjected  them  to  it,  as  a  rule  of  duty.  He  transferred, 
from  the  Jewish  church  to  his  own  family,  the  very 
commandments  which  Moses  wrote  on  the  tables  of 
stone.  Not  an  item  did  he  repeal,  not  a  precept  alter, 
not  a  sanction  soften.  And  the  whole  gospel  is  a  broad 
and  lucid  exposition  of  the  law.  Hence  it  is  now  as 
much  the  fact  as  ever,  that  "Cursed  is  every  one,  that 
continueth  not  in  the  things  written  in  the  book  of  the 
law,  to  do  them."  I  shall  state,  in  a  few  words,  the 
error  I  would  oppose,  and  which,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is 
in  direct  opposition  to  sound  reason,  and  the  whole 
Bible ;  and  then  proceed  to  illustrate  the  doctrine  of  the 
text,  that  The  gospel  was  not  intended  to  supplant, 
but  does  sustain  the  law. 

I.  State  the  error'.  The  scheme  is,  that  men  by  the 
fall,  if  not  disabled,  have  become  so  averse  to  the  law, 
that  a  perfect  obedience  is  impossible  ;  and  that  God  will 
now  accept  of  an  obedience  that  is  sincere.  If  men  will 
obey  the  law,  as  well  as  they  are  able  with  their  carnal 
mind,  the  temper  which,  without  their  fault,  they  in- 
herited from  their  first  parents,  God  will  accept  them  ; 
and  wherein  their  obedience  fails,  the  merits  of  Christ 
will  be  substituted.  By  this  scheme,  the  death  of  Christ 
removes  the  curse  of  the  law,  from  all  men,  soon  as  it 
lights  upon  them  :  for  all  do  renter  to  the  law,  the  best 
obedience  they  are  disposed  to,  and  of  course  are  safe, 
if  they  should  live  and  die  without  repentance.  It  must 
be  seen  in  a  moment,  that,  if  to  whatever  extent  men 


94  THE  LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL 

are  unwilling  to  obey,  they  are  unable,  then  all  obe- 
dience, but  that  which  is  rendered,  is  dispensed  with. 
And  none  is  rendered  ;  for  a  kind  of  sincerity,  consistent 
with  the  most  confirmed  hatred  of  God,  and  his  law, 
and  which,  for  aught  1  sec.  devils  may  have  as  well  as 
men,  becomes  a  substitute  for  right  affections,  and  has 
all  the  merit  of  a  perfect  obedience.  The  whole  amounts 
to  this  ;  God  relinquishes  his  right,  to  any  farther  obe- 
dience, than  men,  totally  depraved,  are  disposed  to  pay 
him.  In  this  scheme  an  atonement  is  made  necessary, 
in  order  to  finish  out  and  render  accepted  the  obedience 
of  the  sinner. 

This  scheme,  as  altered  to  accommodate  it  to  modern 
taste,  relinquishes  the  atonement,  and  substitutes  re- 
pentance. At  whatever  time  in  this  life,  (and  why  not 
in  the  life  to  come  ?)  the  sinner  shall  be  sorry  that  he 
has  broken  the  law,  and  shall  practise  some  reform, 
God  will  promptly  forgive  him,  without  any  reference 
at  all  to  the  scenes  of  Calvary.  He  has  in  his  heart 
so  much  compassion,  and  cares  so  little,— it  amounts  to 
this,— whether  the  law  is  respected  or  reprobated,  that  the 
very  first  tear  of  the  offender,  washes  away  all  his  sins. 

These  schemes  are  substantially  the  same,  and  are 
alike  subversive  of  the  law  of  God.  They  agree  in 
casting  off  this  poor  world  from  all  allegiance  to  its 
Maker,  and  virtually  render  him  a  God,  not  worthy 
either  of  the  fear  of  devils,  or  the  esteem  and  confidence 
of  angels. 

I  have  thus  stated  the  error,  and  have  meant  to 
do  it  candidly,  which  seems  to  me  to  pour  its  con- 
taminating influence,  through  all  the  false  systems  of 
theology,  which  are  at  present  employed  to  injure  the 
church  of  Christ,  and  destroy  the  souls  of  men.  I 
proceed, 


CONJOINTLY  SUSTAINED. 


95 


II.  To  illustrate  the  doctrine  of  the  text.  I  shall 
arrange  my  thoughts  under  six  general  remarks  ;  The 
first  great  commandment  of  the  law,  from  its  very- 
nature,  cannot  be  repealed  ;  Nor  can  the  second  ;  The 
spirit  of  the  law  and  the  gospel  is  the  same ;  The  gospel 
is  a  useless  device  but  on  the  supposition  that  the  law 
is  good,  and  must  be  supported  ;  The  gospel,  that  shall 
set  aside  the  law,  will  defeat  its  own  design  ;  The  gospel 
is  most  glorious  when  the  law  is  fully  sustained. 

1.  The  first  great  commandment  of  the  law  can- 
not be  repealed .  "  Thou  shaft  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart."  The  very  nature  of  this  law  de- 
cides, that  a  gospel  which  would  neutralize  it,  would  be 
a  curse  and  not  a  blessing.  The  Creator  must  require 
his  creatures  to  consider  him  the  object  of  their  supreme 
regard ;  he  can  ask  no  less  of  devils.  This  precept  is 
founded  on  the  divine  excellence,  and  must  abide  in 
force  while  God  shall  continue  to  be  good.  And  as 
God  is  unchangeably  good,  this  precept  must  abide  for 
ever.  He  would  sanction  injustice,  if  he  should  repeal 
a  law  which  requires  that  men  render  unto  God  the 
things  that  are  God's.  An  act  like  this  would  create 
alarm  in  heaven,  and  send  a  premonition  of  ruin  into 
every  world  that  has  continued  loyal. 

Moreover  an  act  that  should  release  intelligent  crea- 
tures from  loving  supremely  their  Creator,  would  ruin 
the  very  beings  thus  released.  Hence  sang  the  Christian 
Poet: 

"From  thee  departing,  they  are  lost  and  rove 
At  random,  without  honour,  hope,  or  peace." 

This  has  ever  been,  and  must  continue  to  be,  the 
law  of  hell,  of  earth,  of  heaven,  and  of  all  other 
worlds.      Nothing    that    God  has  made  has  sufficient 


96 


THE  LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL 


greatness  and  grandeur,  to  become  our  supreme  object 
of  regard. 

"Give  what  thou  canst,  without  thee  we  are  poor  ; 
And  with  thee  rich,  take  what  thou  wilt  away." 

The  capacity  that  God  has  given  us,  must  be  grati- 
fied, or  we  are  miserable  ;  and  if  it  be  gratified,  God 
is  loved  according  to  the  commandment. 

Now  a  gospel  that  should  set  aside  a  law  like  this, 
would  prove  a  miserable  expedient  for  a  revolted  world, 
as  it  would  rob  God  of  his  deserved  honours,  and  man 
of  his  highest  happiness.  How  impossible  that  God 
should  have  given  us  such  a  gospel  !  He  never  has, 
and  never  will,  unless  he  could  wish  to  see  us  all 
miserable.  To  be  restored,  from  inordinate  attachment 
to  ihe  creature,  to  supreme  love  to  God,  is  salvation 
itself;  and  how  can  this  be  effected  by  annulling  the 
precept  that  enjoins  this  very  change  ?  And  we  assert, 

2.  That  the  second  great  commandment  of  the 
law  cannot  be  repealed.  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour, as  thyself."  This,  like  the  other,  carries  on  the 
very  face  of  it,  its  claim  to  perpetuity.  The  first  com- 
mandment was  intended  to  bind  the  creation  to  its 
Maker,  the  second  to  bind  creatures  to  each  other. 
Neither  of  these  ligatures  can  be  sundered,  and  crea- 
tures be  happy.  To  love  our  fellow  men,  is  to  make 
them  subservient  to  our  enjoyment :  for  to  love  is  usually 
a  delightful  exercise.  If  God  had  commanded  us  to 
hate  our  neighbour,  he  had  subjected  us  to  the  necessi- 
ty of  disobeying  him,  or  of  being  lastingly  unhappy.  In 
proof  of  this  position  I  have  only  to  refer  you  to  facts. 
Ask  the  man  of  passion,  who  daily  goes  home  enraged 
at  some  one  of  his  fellow  men,  there  to  study  revenge, 
whether  to  hate  makes  him  happy.  Or  let  my  readers 
call  to  mind  some  of  those  seasons,    when  they  were 


CONJOINTLY  SUSTAINED.  97 

enlisted  in  some  obstinate  quarrel,  and  when  for 
whole  days,  and  perhaps  for  weeks,  passion  rested  in 
their  bosom,  and  tell  me  if  you  were  not  unhappy? 
Then  in  commanding  men  to  love  one  another,  God 
has  simply  forbidden  them  to  be  ?mhappy ;  has  given 
them  leave  to  be  happy. 

And  the  measure  of  our  love,  as  here  given,  what 
could  be  more  equitable.  My  neighbour  is  a  sensitive 
being  like  myself;  is  capable  of  equal  happiness  ;  and 
that  happiness  worth  as  much  to  him,  as  mine  to 
me.  Hence  God  must  value  his  blessedness,  as  much 
as  mine  :  and  it  is  my  duty  to  feel  as  God  does.  Hence, 
if  God  should  repeal  this  law,  it  would  be  consenting 
that  men  should  do  wrong,  have  feelings  at  variance 
with  his,  and  love  happiness  simply  because  it  is  theirs. 

To  repeal  this  law  would  be  to  license  selfishness ;  the 
very  passion  which  has  filled  this  unhappy  world,  and 
kept  it  full,  of  misery.  If  men  are  not  obligated  to  love 
each  other  as  themselves,  then  is  there  no  standard  by 
which  their  affection  can  be  measured,  and  they  are  at 
liberty  to  hate  and  devour  one  another.  If  the  gospel 
has  set  aside  this  law,  then  all  the  outrages  which  men 
have  committed,  one  upon  another,  have  been  licensed 
depredations  :  for  God  has  disapproved  only  of  what  was 
a  violation  of  his  law.  If  he  has  annulled  the  precept 
that  required  men  to  love,  he  has  virtually  given  them 
liberty  to  hate,  and  has  sanctioned  a  total  disregard  of 
the  second  great  commandment  of  the  law.  But  nothing 
like  this  is  true.  The  law  still  makes  on  fallen  creatures  a 
demand  as  large  as  upon  the  first  pair  in  their  innocence, 
and  continiues  to  press  its  obligations  after  they  are 
lost.  The  miseries  of  hell  would  be  mitigated,  if  this 
law  could  cease  to  be  binding.  The  lost  might  then 
hate  and  torment  each  other,  without  increasing  theirguilt, 


98  THE  LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL 

3.  The  spirit  of  the  law  and  the  gospel  is  the 
same.  The  spirit  of  the  law,  as  we  have  seen,  is  love  5 
and  the  same  is  true  of  the  gospel.  In  the  inventory 
given  us  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  the  first  named  is 
love.  This  is  the  bond  of  union  in  heaven,  and  all  who 
are  verging  toward  heaven,  cultivate  love,  as  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  their  piety.  When  we  read,  "  If 
any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in 
him,"  we  have  in  other  language,  the  whole  spirit  of  the 
first  commandment,  'Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods 
before  me."  And  when  we  read,  'Whatsoever  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them  : "  do 
we  not  also  read,  "For  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets." 
Here  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself  identifies  the  two,  as 
if  to  settle  the  point  forever,  that  he  came  to  expound 
and  enforce  the  very  precepts  of  the  law  of  Sinai.  And 
the  man  must  be  grossly  ignorant  of  the  New  Testament, 
who  does  not  recognize  it,  as  the  very  law  of  the  ten 
commandments,  broken  down  to  the  relationships,  and 
the  exigencies  of  human  life.  In  both  Testaments  we 
have  the  same  divine  character,  the  same  code  of  doc- 
trines, the  same  Christian  graces,  the  same  social  duties, 
and  the  same  pure  and  holy  religion. 

When  the  gospel  offers  a  pardon,  to  those  who  have 
violated  the  law,  care  is  taken  that  the  law  be  fulfilled 
and  honoured.  The  law  is  not  censured,  nor  the  sinner 
violently  wrested  from  its  curse.  A  substitute  is  furnished, 
on  which  the  curse  may  light ;  a  substitute  who  had 
himself  perfectly  obeyed  the  law,  who  loved  it,  held  it  in 
high  and  holy  respect,  and  died  because  he  would  not 
see  it  dishonoured.  Had  it  been  a  bad  law,  hastily  con- 
ceived, and  imprudently  promulgated,  Christ  would  not 
have  borne  its  curse.  If  too  severe,  he  would  have  re- 
called its  edicts,  and  would  have  mitigated  its  sanctions, 


CONJOINTLY  SUSTAINED.  99 

if  cruel.  It  was  his  first  concern  to  secure  the  honours 
of  the  Godhead,  and  to  do  this  he  must  sustain  the  law  ; 
his  second  to  redeem  the  wretch  who  had  broken  it,  and 
was  condemned. 

The  Saviour  had  no  more  compassion  than  the  Fa- 
ther ;  loved  justice,  truth,  and  holiness  no  less  ;  hated 
sin  as  much,  and  hated  the  sinner  as  much,  and 
was  as  unwilling  as  the  Father,  that  a  jot  or  a 
tittle  of  the  law  should  fail.  He  did  not  engross  in 
himself  all  the  benevolence  of  the  Godhead  ;  and  was 
not  a  partisan  with  the  sinner  against  the  law.  He  did 
not  come  to  make  war  with  the  Law-giver,  but  with  sin  ; 
not  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  the  condemned,  and  wrest 
them  from  the  punishment  to  which  some  ancient  and 
cruel  decree  had  exposed  them  ;  but  to  cover  them  with 
his  body  and  his  life,  from  the  miseries  they  deserved  to 
endure.  Thus  the  law  and  the  gospel  have  both  the 
same  spirit,  and  press  the  same  design  ;  to  honour  God, 
and  make  his  creatures  happy. 

4.  The  gospel  was  a  useless  device,  but  on  /he  sup- 
position that  the  law  is  good,  and  must  be  supported. 
Nothing  can  be  more  absurd  than  a  gospel  designed  to 
free  men  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  while  that  law  is 
already  repealed,  and  has  ceased  to  be  binding.  Hence 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  lest  men  should  make  a  mistake 
on  this  subject,  declared  very  early  in  his  ministry,  that 
he  came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it.  Indeed 
the  very  hypothesis  on  which  the  gospel  is  built,  is,  that 
the  law  is  good,  its  precepts  right,  and  its  penalties  bind- 
ing. If  otherwise,  the  law  should  have  been  repealed 
without  a  Saviour.  As  soon  as  it  was  discovered  that  the 
law  was  not  adapted  to  our  circumstances,  was  too  strict 
or  too  severe,  instead  of  subjecting  Christ  to  the  pains 
of  the  cross,  to  relieve  the  culprit,  he  should  have  been 


100  THE  LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL 

pardoned  without  an  atonement.  Probably  those  who 
deny  an  atonement,  are  brought  to  this  erroneous  result, 
by  some  indefinite  conception,  that  the  law  is  repealed,  to 
provide  the  way  for  man's  recovery. 

Our  reason  tells  us,  that  there  should  have  been  no 
substitution,  for  those  who  had  broken  a  bad  law,  or  a 
law  which  for  any  reasons  whatever  it  was  not  wise  to 
sustain.  If  not  wise  to  execute  it,  in  the  last  extremity, 
upon  the  offender  himself,  then  assuredly,  not  merely  un- 
wise, but  monstrous,  to  punish  the  substitute.  There 
should  have  been  proclaimed  immediately  a  free  and  full 
pardon.  There  was  the  greatest  possible  cruelty  in  the 
transactions  of  the  cross,  but  on  the  supposition  that  the 
law  is  too  good  to  be  set  aside,  even  if  the  population  of 
a  world  must  perish  to  do  it  honour. 

5.  A  gospel  that  shall  set  aside  the  law  will  defeat 
its  own  design.  Tell  the  sinner,  in  the  same  message 
in  which  you  offer  him  a  Saviour,  that  the  law  he  has 
broken,  is  repealed  ;  or  has  come  into  disrepute,  and  its 
curse  less  to  be  feared  than  formerly,  and  he  will  answer, 
Then  I  have  no  need  of  a  Saviour.  If  my  Sovereign  is 
convinced,  as  I  long  have  been,  that  the  law  is  too  rigid, 
he  will  not  punish  its  violations  ;  if  its  penalties  are  un- 
just, he  will  not  execute  them.  I  re  ect  your  offered  Re- 
deemer, and  approach  boldly  to  the  throne,  to  demand 
my  acquittal.  It  is  mocking  me,  to  talk  of  an  atonement, 
while  I  have  done  only  right,  in  opposing  a  cruel  and 
oppressive  legislation. 

Thus  the  advocates  of  a  gospel,  built  on  the  ruins  of 
the  law,  soon  as  they  make  the  secret  known,  that  the 
law  has  perished,  furnish  the  sinner  a  motive  for  reject- 
ing the  gospel  they  offer.  Thus  they  labour  in  vain 
and  spend  their  strength  for  nought.  They  may  urge 
the  overtures  of  their  gospel,  till  they  have  become  gray 


CONJOINTLY  SUSTAINED. 


101 


in  the  service,  and  their  hearers  will  remain  unchanged 
and  unreformed.  The  only  consistentcourse  is,  to  justify 
wholly  the  law,  or  offer  no  Redeemer.  We  must  make 
man  the  diseased,  and  suffering,  and  dying  creature,  that 
the  Book  of  God  describes  him  to  be,  or  we  need  offer 
him  no  physician  ;  must  make  him  blind,  or  offer  him 
no  eye-salve  ;  make  him  guilty  and  condemned,  or  offer 
him  no  pardon  ;  make  him  polluted,  or  offer  him  no 
cleansing ;  make  him  an  exile,  a  captive,  and  a  slave, 
or  offer  him  no  redemption.  The  estimation  in  which 
we  hold  the  law,  will  decide,  whether  we  have  any  suc- 
cess in  offering  sinners  the  gospel. 

6,  The  gospel  is  most  glorious  when  the  law  is 
fully  sustained.  The  glory  and  the  grace  of  the  gos- 
pel, must,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  be  exactly 
commensurate,  to  the  claims  and  the  curses  of  the  law. 
The  one  must  contain  a  wo  as  broad  as  the  blessedness 
implied  in  the  other  ;  must  present  a  ruin  as  wide  and 
desperate,  as  the  cure  presented  in  the  other  ;  must  frown 
as  implacably,  as  the  other  smiles  complacently.  When 
we  can  thus  honour  the  law,  and  justify  the  Law-giver, 
and  defend,  without  misgiving,  the  most  punctilious  exe- 
cution of  every  threatening  that  has  issued  from  the  lips 
of  the  Eternal ;  then  it  is  that  we  can  equally  elevate  the 
glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God  :  which  else  becomes 
as  worthless  as  the  Sbaster  or  the  Koran.  The  deeper 
and  the  darker  the  pit  into  w7hich  I  had  sunk,  the 
mightier  that  arm  that  could  lift  me  out.  The  full  glo- 
ries of  Calvary,  have  never  been  seen,  but  by  the  same 
eye,  that  has  descried  ineffable  beauty  in  the  divine  le- 
gislation. The  gospel  will  be  shorn  of  its  last  beam, 
when  it  shall  be  made  to  eclipse  the  splendour  of  thelaw. 
It  is  only  the  dead  in  sin  that  need  the  offer  of  life,  the. 
condemned  that  need  a  pardon.     Christ  is  the  Repairer 


102  THE  LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL 

of  the  breach  ;  make  the  breach  wide,  and  you  make  the 
Repairer  illustrious.  Carry  not  the  fertilizing  influence 
of  the  gospel,  but  into  the  very  territory;  where  the  curse 
of  a  good  law  violated  has  spread  a  boundless  desolation. 
There  its  healing  waters  will  be  welcome,  an  Eden  will 
blossom  under  your  feet,  and  the  harvest  of  many  years, 
repay  your  toil  and  make  glad  your  heart.  May  the 
blessed  God  put  honour  upon  his  own  institutions. 

In  bringing  my  remarks  to  a  close,  let  me  say,  that 
the  law  cannot  go  into  disuse.  It  expresses  exactly 
the  mind  of  God,  and  must  be  the  rule  of  duty  to  his 
obedient  subjects  forever.  And  when  broken,  as  it  lias 
been  in  this  unhappy  world,  its  curse  must  fall,  and  re- 
main upon  the  head  of  the  transgressor,  till  he  flies  for 
refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  him  in  the 
gospel.  Till  then  he  lies  condemned,  just  as  if  a  Saviour 
had  not  died  ;  with  this  difference,  that  his  condemnation 
if  he  perish  will  be  aggravated  by  his  having  been 
offered  redemption,  He  might  have  had  life  but  would 
not,  unless  on  such  condition,  that  his  transgressions 
might  be  justified.     I  close  with 

REMARKS. 

1.  How  tremendous  the  ruin  of  sinners,  who  after  all 
this,  shall  fall  under  the  condemning  sentence  of  the 
divine  law.  God  we  see  will  not  set  his  law  aside.  He 
would  give  his  own  well-beloved  Son,  to  expire  on  the 
ragged  nails,  to  save  those  who  had  broken  the  law,  and 
incurred  its  penalty,  rather  than  give  his  foes  occasion  to 
say,  that  he  had  repealed  it.  "  If  these  things  were  done 
in  the  green  tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry  ?  "  If 
God  appeared  so  inflexibly  holy,  on  Calvary,  where  he 
drew  his  sword  upon  the  sinner's  substitute,  how  terrible 
the  indignation  that  he  will  display  in  hell.  O,  is  there 
a  man,  so  hardened  and  so  daring,  that  he  would  venture 


CONJOINTLY  SUSTAINED.  103 

to  pass  through  life,  and  go  on  to  the  judgment,  with  the 
curse  of  the  violatedlaw  resting  on  him  !  When  he  shall 
see  that  Redeemer,  who  saved  others,  but  in  whose  blood 
he  would  not  take  sanctuary,  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven,  with  power  and  great  glory,  will  be  not  regret, 
that  he  had  not  been  interested  in  his  atonement?  And 
when  his  destiny  shall  issue  from  that  Saviour's  lips,  and 
he  goes  to  make  his  bed  in  hell,  will  he  not  learn,  what 
now  he  is  so  unwilling  to  know,  that  "The  law  is  holy, 
and  the  commandment  holy,  and  just,  and  good?" 
■  The  torments  of  the  lost,  will  be  an  abiding  testimony 
of  God's  regard  to  his  law.  And  those  who  shall  have 
escaped  to  heaven,  when  they  shall  "look  upon  the 
carcasses  of  the  men  that  have  transgressed,"  will  be  feel- 
ing more  and  more  strongly  forever,  how  great  are  their 
obligations  to  the  Saviour,  for  redeeming  them  from  the 
curse  of  a  law,  so  fearfully  holy.  And  who,  that  places 
any  value  upon  his  soul,  and  believes  that  God  will  thus 
jealously  guard  the  honour  of  his  law,  and  has  not 
already  made  him  incorrigibly  angry,  will  delay  an  hour 
in  securing  an  interest  in  that  Saviour,  who  bore  the 
curse  for  us.  O,  my  friend,  haste  your  escape,  as  you 
would  at  midnight  from  your  burning  house,  as  you 
would  from  the  jaws  of  a  ravening  lion,  as  you  would 
from  the  terrors  of  a  volcanic  eruption,  as  you  would 
from  the  fire  that  can  never  be  quenched,  and  the  worm 
that  shall  not  die. 

2.  The  subject  will,  I  hope,  prepare  us  to  contemplate 
with  horror,  the  condition  of  those  congregations,  who 
have  selected  for  themselves  a  ministry,  that  builds  its 
instructions  on  the  ruins  of  the  divine  law.  Would  to 
God  that  1  were  mistaken,  in  supposing  such  a  case  to 
exist.  But  when  I  hear,  from  lips  that  profess  to  have 
been  touched  with  a  coal  from  off  the  altar,  that  man  is 


104  THE  LAW  AND  THE  GOSPEL 

quite  an  upright  being,  has  committed  a  few  errors  only, 
and  these  all  venial,  not  sufficient  to  condemn  him ;  that 
he  needs  no  atonement,  nor  Saviour  but  to  teach  him, 
and  be  his  pattern,  and  this  Saviour  not  divine : — When 
I  hear  of  sentiments  like  these  from  the  pulpit,  I  fear  there 
is  a  controversy  with  the  law  of  God,  and  that  it  is  meant 
to  be  understood,  that  he  has  relinquished  his  demand 
upon  the  shiner,  of  a  stricter  obedience,  than  he  isdisposed 
to  yield. 

Thus  by  putting  aside  the  law,  as  we  suppose  is  done 
in  the  outset,  and  hewing  down  the  whole  system  to 
accommodate  it  to  this  fatal  error,  the  whole,  though 
somewhat  consistent  with  itself,  is  rotten  and  deceptive. 
Thus  the  sinner  is  lulled,  and  soothed,  and  when  asleep, 
is  kept  slumbering  till  he  is  lost.  He  never  has  any  pro- 
per sense  of  his  sins,  nor  respect  for  the  violated  law,  nor 
regard  for  the  holiness,  and  justice,  and  truth  of  God. 
He  never  becomes  humble,  nor  fears  God,  nor  embraces 
the  Saviour,  nor  quits  his  sins.  The  gospel  he  hears  is 
like  the  Siren's  song,  that  lures  but  to  destroy.  It  keeps 
men  stupid  till  it  is  too  late  to  be  anxious  to  any  profit. 

O,  ye  lost  and  ruined  congregations  !  if  my  voice  might 
reach  you,  I  would  tell  you  to  look  well  to  the  ministry 
you  attend.  While  it  pretends  to  offer  you  life,  it  may 
destrov  you.  If  you  find  it  aiming  to  lessen  the  number, 
and  diminish  the  aggravations  of  your  sins,  you  ought 
to  suspect  it.  You  never  will  betake  yourself  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  your  precious  and  only  Saviour, 
till  the  commandment  come  home  to  your  bosom,  high 
and  imperious  in  its  claims ;  holy,  and  just,  and  good, 
in  all  it  requires,  and  in  all  it  threatens.  In  the  sense  of 
the  apostle,  sin  must  revive  and  we  die,  else  there  can  be 
no  hope  that  we  shall  be  made  alive  in  Christ  Jesus. 
The  multitudes  who  have  gone  to  heaven,  and  the  whole 


CONJOINTLY  SUSTAINED.  105 

army  of  believers  who  are  bound  thither,  know  the  period 
when  they  felt  themselves  justly  exposed  to  eternal 
death.  The  gospel  that  pretends  to  find  you  quite  whole 
and  happy,  needing  only  a  little  instruction,  and  perhaps 
some  reformation,  and  aims  not  to  alarm  and  distress 
you,  you  may  rest  assured  is  a  lie,  and  not  the  truth  ;  it 
comes  from  hell,  and  not  from  heaven  ;  and  if  embraced, 
will  conduct  you  back  with  it  to  the  recesses  of  perdition 


10 


SERMON    XL  VIII. 

IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE   OF   HOLINESS. 

Romans  iii.  18. 
There  is  no  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes. 

The  text  gives  us  man's  native  character.  Such  he 
is  till  the  Spirit  of  God  has  sanctified  him.  The  criti- 
cism that  would  apply  this  whole  passage  to  the  people 
only  who  lived  before  the  flood,  or  to  a  very  few  of  the 
baser  sort  of  sinners,  is  a  contrivance  of  infidelity,  and  is 
extensively  employed,  in  the  present  day,  to  betray  and 
ruin  souls.  The  man  who  is  willing  to  shape  his  creed 
by  the  divine  record,  is  entirely  satisfied,  when  he  reads 
the  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  which  are  here  quot- 
ed ;  but  when  he  finds  them  referred  to  by  an  inspired 
apostle,  and  by  him  applied  to  the  whole  human  family, 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  no  shadow  of  doubt  remains.  He  is 
now  content  to  lie  down  under  the  humiliating  charge 
they  bring,  and  is  ashamed  and  confounded  before  the 
great  Searcher  of  hearts.  He  who  has  become  a  new 
creature  will  consent  that  "God  be  true,  though  every 
man  a  liar." 

The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  a  gracious  affection,  belonging 
not  to  the  slave  but  to  the  son,  and  is  the  genuine  fruit 
of  a  new  heart,  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  Hence  where 
this  affection  is  not,  there  are  no  gracious  affections. 
And  if  this  be  true,  and  the  text  applies  to  all  men  in 


IMrENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS.  107 

their  unsanctified  state,  then  it  plainly  teaches  fus,  that 
In  unregenerate  men  there  is  no  moral  excellence. 

My  object  at  this  time  will  be,  not  so  much  to  prove 
the  doctrine,  as  to  account  for  its  having  been  contro- 
verted, and  offer  some  reasons  for  esteeming  it  a  highly 
important  doctrine. 

T.  Many  have  mistaken  the  native  character  of  man, 
from  having  seen  him  capable  of  affections  and  deeds 
that  are  praiseworthy.  It  is  not  man's  prerogative  to 
judge  the  heart ;  hence,  if  the  tendency  of  an  action  is 
to  that  which  is  good,  it  is  imputed  to  the  very  motive 
that  ought  to  have  produced  it.  If  the  deed  has  a  fair 
exterior,  it  is  considered  ungenerous  not  to  impute  it  to 
correct  principle.  Men  judge,  however,  on  the  maxim, 
that  what  is  highly  esteemed  among  men,  cannot  be 
abomination  in  the  sight  of  God.  Hence  they  dress 
up  human  nature  in  garbs  of  innocence;  and  conceive 
it  impossible  that  there  should  be,  under  so  much  that  is 
fair  and  good  in  conduct,  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief. 

They  find  men  capable  of  kind,  and  generous,  and 
honourable  sentiments.  They  can  be  true,  and  trusty, 
and  faithful,  and  affectionate  ;  and  they  triumphantly 
ask,  How  can  all  this  be  when  there  is  no  love  of  God 
in  the  heart!  They  see  discharged,  and  sometimes 
quite  honourably,  the  offices  of  parent,  husband,  brother 
and  child,  and  all  the  other  domestic  and  social  rela- 
tions, and  impute  it  all,  though  to  be  accounted  for  on 
other  principles,  to  native  moral  excellence.  Hence  they 
are  precipitated  into  a  controversy  with  that  plain  and 
humbling  testimony  of  heaven,  that  "  The  carnal  mind 
is  enmity  against  God,  is  not  subject  to  his  law,  nor  in- 
deed can  be." 

Why  will  not  men  believe,  what  the  scriptures  so 
plainly  teach,  that  the  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things 


108  IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS. 

and  desperately  wicked  ;  and  from  this  truth  infer,  that 
very  different  motives  may  lead  to  the  same  deeds.  We 
often  see  that  an  amiable  disposition,  a  tameness  and 
mildness,  such  as  distinguish  the  lamb  from  the  wolf, 
and  the  vulture  from  the  dove  ;  and  that  results  in  the 
exercise  of  many  an  amiable  affection,  and  the  doing  of 
many  a  kind  action ;  may  consist  with  the  practice  of 
sin,  the  habit  of  a  daily  violation  of  the  divine  law,  a 
prompt  rejection  of  all  the  overtures  of  the  gospel,  and 
an  inveterate  disgust  for  the  duties  of  a  cordial  atid  se- 
cret piety.  We  have  recognized,  where  there  was  all 
the  instinctive  amiableness  that  is  ever  claimed,  the 
existence  of  a  polished  and  fashionable  infidelity  ;  have 
marked  offence  taken,  at  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of 
revelation,  at  the  scruples  of  a  well  disciplined  consciencej 
at  the  frequency  and  fervency  of  devotional  exercises, 
and  the  elevated  views  and  affections  of  the  revived  and 
happy  believers.  Still  there  were  high  pretensions  to 
kindness,  rectitude,  generosity,  and  even  piety :  There 
was  not  a  consciousness  of  the  deep-rooted  enmity  of 
the  heart  to  whatever  is  holy  and  heavenly.  Men  have 
wept  under  the  sound  of  the  gospel,  and  seemed  the 
veriest  converts  to  the  truths  under  discussion,  the  af- 
fections enforced,  and  the  duties  urged,  and  ere  they  have 
passed  the  threshold  of  the  sanctuary,  have  vented  their 
spleen  against  the  man,  who  reached  their  sensibilities, 
and  drew  from  them,  in  an  unguarded  hour,  their  reluc- 
tant testimony  to  the  gospel  he  announced. 

We  do  not  deny,  that  there  has  been  seen  in  men,  not 
sanctified,  much  that  it  would  be  disgraceful  not  to  ad- 
mire, and  envious  not  to  praise,  and  evil  not  to  imitate  ; 
and  still  we  may  have  had  indubitable  evidence,  that  in 
the  very  same  bosom  there  beat  a  heart  hostile  to  God, 
and  holinessj  and  heaven.    Not  certainly  will  Godj  whx> 


IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS.  109 

compares  the  temper  of  the  heart  with  his  law,  approve 
always  the  very  deeds  that  men  have  praised,  or  the 
men  who  may  have  stood  immeasurably  high  in  human 
estimation. 

On  this  point  the  truth  must  not  be  concealed.  We 
cannot  say  to  sinners,  that  if  they  please  man,  God 
will  assuredly  be  pleased  ;  that  if  they  speak  kindly  to 
man,  and  do  deeds  of  mercy  to  him,  the  Eternal  will 
say,  "  Ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  There  is  no  such 
assurance  given  in  the  record.  And  the  time,  or  rather 
the  eternity,  will  be  here  so  soon,  when  their  whole  char 
acter  must  be  known,  when  they  must  stand  before  the 
omniscient  God,  and  all  their  heart  be  opened,  and  their 
whole  life  be  read  ;  that  to  deceive  them,  and  cry  peace, 
peace,  when  there  is  no  peace,  would  be  as  cruel  as  death. 

There  is  neither  the  necessity  nor  the  wish  to  deny, 
that  unsanctified  men  have  exhibited  many  natural 
excellencies  of  character.  On  this  point  I  know  not  that 
there  will  be  at  last  any  controversy  between  God  and 
them.  Our  Saviour  looked  at  the  young  man  in  the 
gospel,  and  loved  him,  while  yet  he  was  unquestionably 
in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  under  (he  bonds  of  iniquity. 
We  yield  to  men  traits  of  character  that  are  amiable, 
and  useful,  and  endearing,  and  wish  most  sincerely  that 
there  need  be  no  reserve  in  our  praise.  But  while  they 
have  been  kind,  and  neighbourly,  and  pitiful,  and  even 
generous  to  their  fellows,  they  have  robbed  God.  They 
have  wept  at  the  tale  of  distress  and  hastened  to  succour 
the  perishing,  and  bled  in  sympathy  over  the  diseased 
and  the  dying,  but  have  never  shed  a  tear  at  the  cross. 
They  have  believed  man,  and  confided  in  him,  and 
spoken  truth  to  him,  and  have  well  earned  his  confidence 
and  affection,  but  they  have  practically  made  God  a  liar. 
They  have  neyer  fully  credited  either  his  threatenings  or 

10* 


110  IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS. 

his  promises,  nor  thought  it  necessary  to  take  sanctuary 
in  his  Son.  There  has  not  been  a  moment  in  their 
whole  life,  take  the  time  when  their  conscience  was  the 
most  tender,  and  their  sensibilities  the  most  awakened, 
and  their  deportment  the  most  religious,  and  their  hopes 
of  heaven  the  most  profound  ;  when  some  other  object 
beside  God,  had  not  tbe  high  and  distinct  ascendancy 
m  their  affections.  While  they  could  treat  men  mildly, 
and  be  rebuked  without  wrath,  and  even  endure  divine 
judgments  without  the  appearance  of  rebellion  ;  they 
could  still  brow -beat  all  the  anathemas  of  the  law,  and 
parry  every  thrust  of  the  gospel,  and  live  on,  without 
reflection,  and  without  prayer,  and  without  repentance, 
and  without  God  in  the  world.  They  still  cared  not  for 
all  the  melting  entreaties  of  divine  mercy.  God  was  not 
in  all  their  thoughts,  nor  his  religion  in  their  lips,  nor 
his  throne  in  their  hearts,  nor  his  will  controlled  them  ; 
while  as  the  friends  of  the  poor,  the  patrons  of  moral  vir- 
tue, and  the  benefactors  of  the  world,  they  were  illustri- 
ous, and  w^ere  promised  in  human  eulogy  a  luminous 
and  happy  immortality. 

Thus  has  the  human  character,  all  deformity  as  God 
views  it,  been  exhibited  as  sound  and  good.  Distinc- 
tions have  not  always  been  made,  between  what  is 
nature,  and  what  is  grace;  what  is  mere  i?istinct, 
and  what  is  holiness.  The  multitudes  of  the  ungodly 
have  been  blessed  and  dismissed,  doubting  whether  their 
character  was  at  all  deficient,  or  they  needed  to  be  born 
again  ;  and  high  in  the  hope  that  a  slight  reform,  and 
a  little  care,  wrould  soon  prepare  them  to  stand  accepted 
of  God.  Even  men  who  have  worn  noted  marks  of 
the  apostacy,  the  covetous,  the  proud,  the  vain,  and 
the  wrorldIy,  have  retired  with  a  smile,  to  enjoy  their 
good  opinion  of  themselves  and  feed  quietly,  and  sleep 


IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF   HOLINESS.  112 

sweetly,  while  the  wrath  of  God  abode  upon  them. 
They  have  gone  to  their  farms  and  their  merchandise, 
to  love  and  pursue  supremely  the  cares  of  the  life  that 
now  is,  or  bury  themselves  in  scenes  of  dissipation  and 
folly,  not  suspecting  but  that  all  was  well,  and  all  safe7 
till  either  the  Spirit  of  God  awakened  them,  or  they  sunk 
to  a  hopeless  perdition  :  or  they  live  still,  and  are  filling 
up  the  measure  of  their  iniquity,  and  are  preparing  for 
a  deeper  despair,  than  if  they  had  perished  far  sooner. 
And  they  must  thus  perish,  it  seems,  because  they  are 
amiable,  while  publicans  and  harlots,  who  have  no  such 
virtues  to  screen  them  from  conviction,  believe  in  the 
Saviour,  and  live  forever ! 

II.  Men  have  been  led  to  controvert  this  doctrine 
because  they  are  not  conscious  of  the  wrong  motives 
by  which  they  are  actuated.  Through  the  workings 
of  a  deceitful  heart,  ignorance  of  the  scriptures,  and 
sometimes  by  the  aid  of  a  heterodox  ministry,  men  have 
totally  mistaken  their  whole  moral  character.  They 
are  rich  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have  need  of  no- 
thing ;  and  know  not  that  they  are  wretched,  and 
miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.  What  the 
prophet  says  of  the  idol-maker,  is  more  or  less  true  of 
all  unregenerate  men  in  all  ages,  "  A  deceived  heart 
hath  turned  him  aside,  that  he  cannot  deliver  his  soul, 
nor  say,  Is  there  not  a  lie  in  my  right  hand  ?  "  Hazael 
could  not  believe  that  he  deserved  the  character  which 
the  prophet  gave  him,  "  Is  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he 
should  do  this  great  thing?"  And  Jehu,  when  he  cut 
off  the  house  of  Ahab,  and  destroyed  the  worshippers  of 
Baal,  would  have  felt  himself  abused,  to  be  told  that  he 
was  actuated  by  the  love  of  praise.  When  the  rulers 
of  the  Jews  were  charged  with  murdering  the  Lord  of 
life  and  glory,  though  they  had  done  this  very  deed, 


112  IMPENITENT  MEN   DESTITUTE  OP  HOLINESS. 

thought  Peter  a  slanderer,  in  his  attempt  to  bring  thi3 
blood  upon  them.  So  Saul  of  Tarsus  supposed  he  was 
doing  God  service,  while  persecuting  to  death  the  disci- 
ples of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Thus  may  men  act  from  the 
very  worst  of  motives,  and  yet  suppose  them  the  very 
best.  They  do  not  consider  it  important  to  know  what 
their  designs  are,  and  have  not  that  familiarity  with  their 
hearts  that  would  render  it  easy  to  discover.  And  thus 
they  are  led  to  controvert  the  truth,  and  quarrel  with 
God,  his  word,  and  his  ministers,  who  all  give  them  the 
very  character  they  have. 

III.  The  doctrine  of  the  text  is  often  converted  to 
support  schemes  with  which  this  sentiment  would  not 
compare.  The  sinner's  entire  depravity,  is  a  fundamen- 
tal doctrine,  on  which  there  can  be  built  only  one,  and 
that  the  gospel  system.  Make  this  doctrine  true,  and 
it  sweeps  away,  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  every 
creed  but  one  from  the  face  of  the  world.  It  settles  the 
question,  that  God  may  righteously  execute  his  law  upon 
all  unregenerate  men ;  that  "by  the  deeds  of  the  law 
there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  ;  "  that  the  doings  of  un- 
regenerate men  are  unholy  ;  that  even  repentance  will 
not  take  away  the  curse  that  has  lit,  and  must  rest,  upon 
the  man  who  has  not  continued  in  all  the  things  written 
in  the  bode  of  the  law  to  do  them  ;  that  an  atonement, 
such  as  God  has  provided,  through  the  offering  of  the 
body  of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all,  is  the  only  medium 
through  which  we  can  purge  our  consciences  from  dead 
works  to  serve  the  living  God.  It  further  decides  the 
question,  that  men  will  not  seek  after  God ;  that  he 
must  be  found  of  them  that  sought  him  not,  must  give 
repentance  unto  life,  must  take  away  the  heart  of  stone 
and  give  a  heart  of  flesh  ;  that  in  the  regenerate  he  must 
work,  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  own  good  pleasure ;  and 


IMPENITENT  MEN   DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS.  113 

finally,  that  he  must  be  an  Almighty  Saviour,  who 
could  redeem  beings  so  lost,  and  put  them  back  again 
into  the  favour  of  a  justly  offended  God. 

Thus  it  is  only  one  scheme  of  truths  that  this  doctrine 
will  support ;  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  If 
men  depart  from  the  truth,  as  we  are  told  they  shall  in 
these  last  days,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doc- 
trines of  devils,  they  must  thus  come  into  close  and  com- 
fortless contact  with  a  doctrine,  which,  if  true,  gives 
the  lie  to  all  their  false  and  delusive  schemes-  Hence 
we  wonder  not  that  "  the  foe  of  God  and  man,  issuing 
from  his  dark  den,"  has  here  displayed,  in  every  age 
of  Zion's  conflict,  his  mightiest  chieftainship.  Here  must 
be  the  edge  of  battle,  in  every  conflict  between  the  gospel, 
and  the  systems  invented  by  men  ;  between  the  friends 
and  the  foes  of  truth.  This  is  the  fortress  that  has 
been  taken  and  retaken  ten  thousand  times,  where  has 
been  tried  the  prowess  of  God's  people,  and  his  ene- 
mies ;  where  has  been  displayed  the  power  of  God,  and 
been  put  to  the  test  the  endurance  of  his  elect,  in  all 
the  ages  that  have  gone  by. 

IV.  This  doctrine  has  been  controverted  through  the 
pride  of  the  human  heart.  Depravity  is  a  most  de- 
grading doctrine,  and  entire  depravity  intolerable,  till 
the  heart  has  been  humbled  by  the  grace  of  God.  There 
is  in  apostate  men  great  pride  of  character.  We 
would  all  be  considered  friendly  to  what  is  good  and 
great,  and  such  is  God,  even  in  the  profession  of  the 
most  depraved  ;  such  is  his  law,  and  such  is  his  govern- 
ment. With  the  promptness,  with  which  we  fly  the 
touch  of  fire,  does  pride  resist  imputation.  Hence 
inquires  the  unregenerate  man,  Would  you  deny  me 
the  credit  of  loving  my  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Bene- 
factor?   Do  I  never  obey  his  law,  or  do  a  deed  from 


lit  IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS. 

motives  that  please  him?  And  is  there,  among  my 
noblest  actions  of  kindness  to  men,  nothing  that  amounts 
to  love?  In  my  gladness  for  the  good  things  that  God 
bestows,  is  there  not  a  shred  of  gratitude  ?  in  my  ad- 
miration of  his  perfections  and  his  works,  no  love?  in 
my  belief  of  his  word,  no  faith?  in  my  expectation  of 
heaven,  no  hope  ?  in  my  sorrow  for  sin.  no  repentance  ? 
in  my  endurance  of  adverse  events,  no  submission? 
and  in  my  gentleness  and  cjndescension,  no  humility? 
are  my  prayers  sin,  and  my  sacrifices  abomination? 
do  I  thus,  on  all  occasions,  break  the  first  and  great 
commandment  of  the  law?  and  on  all  occasions  the 
second  also?  in  all  my  noble  generosity,  is  there  no 
benevolence?  in  my  soft  deportment,  no  meekness]  and 
in  my  tears  for  the  miserable,  no  pious  sympathy  ?  must 
every  deed  I  do  have  the  same  moral  deformity  ?  and 
God  hate  me,  and  his  law  condemn  me,  when  I  follow 
the  kindest  dictates  of  that  nature  he  has  given  me  ? 

Thus  men  feel,  that  if  this  doctrine  be  true,  it 
goes  to  defame  and  ruin  their  character.  It  makes 
them  go  astray  soon  as  they  are  born,  speaking  lies. 
It  makes  their  righteousness  as  filthy  rags.  When 
they  have  washed  themselves  in  snow-water,  and  made 
their  hands  never  so  clean,  this  doctrine,  with  ruthless 
hand,  plunges  them  into  the  ditch,  and  their  own  clothes 
abhor  them.  When  they  industriously  provide  for  their 
household,  they  are  accused  of  loving  the  world, 
while  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  them.  When 
they  would  go  to  the  sanctuary,  and  pay  their  vows, 
there  they  hear  from  heaven,  "  What  hast  thou  to  do 
to  declare  my  statutes,  or  that  thou  shouldest  take  my 
covenant  in  thy  mouth  ?  " 

Thus,  at  every  point,  this  doctrine  comes  to  mar 
their  reputation,  and  make  them  hypocrites,  and    cover 


IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE   OF  HOLINESS.  115 

them  with  shame  and  blushing.  Hence  the  Jehovah, 
who  will  give  men  this  character,  may  reign  in  other 
hearts  ;  and  the  Bible,  that  will  teach  this  doctrine,  may- 
lie  neglected ;  and  the  ministry  that  will  publish  it,  may 
starve :  and  the  cringing  multitude,  who  will  believe  it, 
may  herd  together,  and  together  sink  into  the  contempt 
they  covet.  Thus  God  is  treated,  and  thus  his  word, 
and  thus  his  ministers,  and  thus  his  people,  because 
they  maintain  a  doctrine,  the  sinner's  disgust  at  which, 
establishes  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  or  the  dan- 
ger of  mistake.  It  so  degrades  the  character  of  men. 
that  they  will  not  believe  it,  if  they  perish  contradict- 
ing it. 

I  could  offer  other  reasons,  why  this  doctrine  has 
been  so  frequently  assailed,  but  shall  proceed  to  offer 
some  reasons  for  esteeming  it  a  very  important 
doctrine. 

1.  The  fact,  that  it  is  plainly  revealed,  testifies  to 
its  importance.  God  would  not  have  cumbered  his 
word  with  a  doctrine  of  no  value.  If  we  find  it  there 
who  will  venture  to  deny  its  importance  ?  and  if  not 
there,  how  does  it  happen,  that  those  are  its  warmest 
advocates,  who  are  most  familiar  with  the  Bible,  and 
most  ready  to  regard  its  dictates  ?  The  context  contains 
a  very  dark  review  of  man's  native  character :  and 
it  would  be  infidelity  to  suppose  it  too  highly  coloured. 
'•  There  is  none  righteous,  no  not  one :  There  is  none 
that  understandeth,  there  is  none  that  seeketh  after 
God.  They  are  all  gone  out  of  the  way,  they  are  to- 
gether become  unprofitable ;.  there  is  none  that  doeth 
good,  no,  not  one.  Their  throat  is  an  open  sepulchre ; 
with  their  tongues  they  have  used  deceit;  the  poison  of 
asps  is  under  their  lips  :  Whose  mouth  is  full  of  cursing 
and  bitterness.     Their  feet   are  swift   to  shed  blood. 


116  IMPENITENT  MEN   DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS, 

Destruction  and  misery  are  in  their  ways :  And  the 
way  of  peace  have  they  not  known.  There  is  no  fear 
of  God  before  their  eyes."  Now  we  fearlessly  assert, 
that  this  is  given  as  the  native  character  of  Jews  and 
Gentiles;  by  one  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  inspired,  and 
who  could  not  mistake  the  truth.  Believe  the  last  clause 
only,  and  tell  me  if  in  men,  who  have  "  no  fear  of  God 
before  their  eyes,"  there  is  any  holiness?  "The  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  Here  again  Chris- 
tian honesty  will  read  the  same  doctrine.  And  the  same 
in  this  text,  '-The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  full  of  evil." 
And  in  this.  <:  The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things, 
and  desperately  wicked."  And  that  none  may  escape,  it 
reads;  "As  in  water  face  answereth  to  face,  so  the  heart 
of  man  to  man:"  And  thus  the  uniform  testimony  of 
Scripture.  There  would  be  no  end  in  quoting  the  Scrip- 
tures on  this  important  point,  till  I  had  referred  you  to 
almost  the  whole  Bible.  And  a  doctrine  about  which 
God  will  say  so  much,  must  be,  in  his  estimation,  and 
should  be  in  ours,  of  high  importance. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  the  text  is  esteemed  important, 
as  it  is  one  of  the  first  truths,  used  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  in  awakening  and  sanctifying  sinners.  Till 
men  see  their  depravity,  they  will  not  approve  of  the  law 
that  condemns  them.  They  will  be  wondering,  if,  in- 
deed, they  think  at  all,  why  God  threatens  them,  and 
be  blaming  the  law  as  too  rigid  in  its  requirements,  and 
cruel  in  its  penalties.  Now  there  is  no  hope  of  a  sinner, 
while  he  stands  in  this  posture ;  and  nothing  will  move 
him  from  it,  but  a  conviction  of  his  lost  and  ruined  state. 
Hide  from  him  the  character  of  his  heart,  and  you  seal 
him  up  to  everlasting  stupidity,  You  can  arouse  him  to 
no  apprehensions  of  danger,  for  under  the  government 


IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS.  117 

of  a  good  God  none  are  in  danger  but  sinners.  And 
there  will  of  course  be  no  repentance.  A  thoughtless 
sinner  sees  nothing  to  repent  of,  nor  any  reason  why  he 
should  repent,  and  the  man  who  knows  nothing  of  his 
heart  will  not  be  thoughtful.  The  commandment 
never  comes  home  to  his  conscience.  If  he  has  hopes 
of  heaven,  it  will  be  on  the  ground  of  his  own  self-righte- 
ousness. Thus  the  Saviour  will  be  to  him  as  a  root  out 
of  a  dry  ground,  without  form  or  comeliness,  and  the 
work  of  grace  can  never  be  begun.  Thus  is  the  sinner, 
who  is  kept  ignorant  of  his  heart,  sealed  up  to  the  judg- 
ment, and  goes  on  as  the  ox  to  the  slaughter,  and  the 
fool  to  the  correction  of  the  stocks.  The  Spirit  of  God 
will  sanctify  only  through  the  truth,  and  the  entire  de- 
pravity of  the  heart  is  a  first  truth,  without  a  knowledge 
of  which  no  sinner  was  ever  yet  fitted  for  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

A  gospel,  then,  if  we  must  so  call  it,  that  hides  from 
men  the  deformity  of  their  moral  character,  betrays  and 
ruins  them.  It  says  to  the  wicked,  that  it  shall  be  well 
with  them,  and  thus  cradles  their  fears  to  sleep,  till  their 
period  of  mercy  is  past;  and  proves,  ultimately,  the 
greatest  calamity  that  can  befall  them.  It  closes  upon 
them  the  portals  of  eternal  life,  and  keeps  them  dream- 
ing, and  fearless,  till  they  open  their  eyes  in  hell.  But 
when  they  at  last  make  the  discovery,  perhaps  on  the 
bed  of  death,  or  it  may  be  not  till  life  has  gone  out,  how 
will  they  execrate  the  recollection  of  such  a  gospel.  It 
will  come  up  to  mind  as  does  the  tempest,  that  wrecked 
all  their  hopes  upon  the  relentless  reef;  or  the  fire  that 
forced  them  to  make  a  midnight  retreat  from  the  place 
that  had  been  long  their  safe  and  happy  home. 

The  ministers  of  Christ  would  love  to  preach  a 
smoother  gospel,  if  men  could  only  be  safe  under  it.     It 

11 


118  IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS. 

would  be  pleasant  to  have  to  do  only  with  the  invita- 
tions, and  the  promises,  and  the  hopes  of  the  gospel. 
They  had  far  rather  remind  the  believer  of  the  joys  to 
come,  than  to  admonish  the  unbeliever  of  the  judgment, 
the  outer  darkness,  and  the  gnawing  worm.  They 
could  have  far  more  pleasure  in  describing  the  graces  of 
the  Spirit,  than  in  portraying  the  deformities  of  the  un- 
sanctified  heart. 

But  the  grand  object  of  the  gospel  ministry  is  to  save 
souls,  and  thisobject  is  not  gained,  unless  men  are  taught, 
as  the  very  first  lesson  of  that  ministry,  that  they  are 
lost.  Hence  to  suppress  this  truth,  would  be  to  neu- 
tralize at  once  the  whole  effect  of  this  ministry.  What- 
ever we  may  wish,  we  can  be  the  ministers  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  to  a  ruined  world,  but  on  this  one  condition, 
that  the  alienation  of  our  world  from  God,  hold  the  place 
of;  a  first  truth  in  every  effort  of  our  ministry.  The  gos- 
pel has  absolutely  no  meaning,  and  can  be  of  no  use, 
but  to  the  lost  and  the  condemned. 

3.  The  doctrine  of  the  text  is  esteemed  important,  as 
it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  whole  gospel  scheme. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  came  into  our  world,  to  seek  and 
to  save  them  that  are  lost,  and  the  whole  plan  of  salva- 
tion is  so  interwoven  with  this  fact,  as  to  be  unintelligible 
without  it.  What  means  the  covenant  of  redemption, 
but  in  connexion  with  the  fact  that  we  are  captives  and 
slaves,  and  need  to  be  redeemed  l  what  is  there  intelli- 
gible in  the  atonement,  but  that  we  owe  ten  thousand 
talents,  and  have  nothing  to  pay  ?  why  urged  to  repent, 
but  that  we  are  in  love  with  sin,  and  must  otherwise 
perish  ?  why  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  that 
we  need  a  better  righteousness  than  our  own  to  shelter  us 
from  the  wrath  to  come  ?  why  make  to  ourselves  a  new 


IMPENITENT  MEN  DESTITUTE  OF  HOLINESS.  119 

heart,  but  that  we  have  by  nature  evil  hearts  of  unbelief, 
inclining  us  to  depart  from  the  living  God  ? 

And  let  me  ask,  why  all  the  threatenings  of  the  gospel, 
but  that  it  was  written  for  the  use  of  a  disobedient  and 
gainsaying  people?  why  on  every  page  does  there  meet 
us  some  anathema,  but  that  it  was  intended  for  those 
who  love  not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  why  has  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  but  that  all  have  sinned  ?  why  a 
judgment  and  a  place  of  torment,  but  that  tho.-e  who 
have  carried  their  entire  depravity  with  them  into  the 
coming  world,  may  be  distinguished,  and  may  go  to  their 
own  place. 

Finally,  it  is  matter  of  doubt  whether  an  honest  man, 
acquainted  with  the  Bible,  and  willing  to  collect  his 
creed  from  it,  will  find  it  possible  to  exclude  the  doctrine 
of  the  text  from  a  fundamental  place  in  its  structure. 
What  doctrine  can  he  preach,  if  he  denies  it?  what 
precept  enforce?  what  threatening  announce?  what 
promise  apply  ?  We  need  no  gospel  if  this  doctrine  is  not 
true,  and  we  have  none.  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for 
to-morrow  we  die." 

Will  the  great  God  defend  his  own  truth,  and  bless 
every  effort  for  its  vindication,  and  sanctify  his  people 
through  its  influence,  and  speedily  let  it  cover  the  earth 
as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  Will  he  bring  the  multi- 
tudes of  the  ungodly  to  know,  that  they  are  in  the  gall  of 
bitterness,  and  in  the  bonds  of  iniquity,  and  persuade 
them  to  fly  for  refuge,  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before 
them  in  the  gospel. 


SERMON    XLIX. 

ONLY    ONE    TRUE    GOD. 

John  xvii.  3. 
This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  thee  the  only  true  God. 

In  the  report  of  that  gospel,  that  shall  deal  honestly 
with  dying  men,  it  is  of  the  first  importance,  that  there 
be  exhibited  the  true  character  of  God.  As  men  are  to 
be  sanctified  through  the  truth,  it  will  be  confessed,  that 
no  truth  can  be  of  higher  importance,  than  that  which 
relates  to  the  being  and  attributes  of  Jehovah.  Unless 
on  this  point  there  is  made  a  full  and  clear  exposure  of 
the  truth,  our  religion  may  be  so  defective,  as  to  neither 
profit  us  in  this  life,  nor  save  us  in  the  life  to  come. 
Under  the  very  names  that  belong  to  the  true  God,  we 
may  worship  an  idol,  and  thus  give  our  depravity  the 
shape  of  the  grossest  insult. 

We  have  sometimes  listened  to  a  loud  and  earnest  ad- 
dress on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  it  professed  itself  the 
gospel,  in  which  the  character  of  the  true  God  was  indus- 
triously concealed.  Men  may  speak  of  God,  and  with 
much  engaged ness  ;  his  adorable  names  may  swell 
every  clause,  and  round  every  period,  and  the  whole  be 
uttered  with  a  decent  and  well-bred  softness  ;  and  one 
may  suppose  himself  religiously  employed,  in  hearing 
the  true  gospel,  and  be  charmed  with  the  changes  rung 
upon  the  names  he  has  been  accustomed  to  adore ;  and 


ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD.  121 

still  the  god  proclaimed  may  not  be  the  blessed  Jehovah. 
There  may  be  a  view  exhibited  that  does  not  belong  to 
the  Creator,  but  to  some  imaginary  god  created  for  the 
occasion. 

The  text  would  furnish  several  topics  of  remark,  but 
I  intend  to  confine  myself  to  one,  To  expose  some  of 
the  false  views  of  God,  which  are  not  unfrequently 
presented  us  under  the  appellation  of  the  gospel ;  and 
thus  illustrate  the  character  of  that  only  true  God  whom 
to  know  is  eternal  life. 

I.  There  is  sometimes  an  extolling  of  all  the  more 
clement  attributes  of  God,  as  some  have  presumptuously 
distinguished,  while  the  severer  attributes  are  unnoticed. 
The  design  of  these  declaimers  seems  to  be,  that  our 
attention  be  fixed  exclusively  upon  what,  in  their  esti- 
mation, is  soft  and  mild  and  lovely  in  God,  while  his 
holiness,  his  justice  and  his  truth  ; — all  in  him  that  can 
go  to  make  a  sinner  afraid,  or  beget  conviction  and  re- 
pentance, is  industriously  concealed.  God's  compassion 
for  our  lost  and  miserable  world,  his  patience,  his  endu- 
rance, his  long-suffering,  his  promptness  to  pardon,  and 
total  aversion  to  destroy  ; — all  those  features  of  the  divine 
mind,  that  can  soothe  alarm,  are  early  and  industriously 
developed,  as  if  embracing  the  whole  of  God  that  he  him- 
self loves,  or  man  is  required  to  worship  and  adore ; 
while  the  other  parts  of  the  divine  image  are  obscured,  as 
one  would  hide  the  scars  and  excrescences  that  have  for- 
tuitously covered  more  than  half  his  visage.  Thus  the 
great  luminary  of  the  moral  world  must  be  cast  into  a 
deep  and  dark  eclipse,  that  the  naked  eye  of  sense  may 
gaze  upon  his  few  remaining  glories.  It  is  feared,  we 
presume,  that  were  the  whole  character  of  God  exhibited, 
sinners  would  be  filled  with  disgust,  and  be  driven  from 
the  bosom  of  their  Sovereign.     He  must  not  adhere  to 

11* 


122  ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD. 

the  principles  of  that  law  he  has  promulgated,  nor  care 
to  vindicate  himself  from  the  aspersions  that  sinners  have 
cast  upon  his  character  and  his  government.  He  must 
not  resolve  that  mercy  and  truth  meet  together  ;  and  that 
righteousness  and  peace  kiss  each  other.  He  must  cast 
a  smile  upon  the  prodigal,  ere  he  shall  turn  his  face  or 
his  feet  toward  his  father's  house.  Thus  must  the  holy 
and  righteous  God,  before  whom  devils  tremble,  melt 
down  into  the  weak  and  pitiful  parent,  or  not  one  of  his 
apostate  family  shall  come  back  to  his  bosom  and  his  ser- 
vice.    So  men  would  judge. 

But  God  seems  to  have  had  other  views,  and  has 
revealed  his  whole  character,  fearless  of  the  predicted 
consequences.  If  there  was  any  danger  from  a  full 
exposure  of  his  character,  why  did  he  not  hold  himself 
concealed,  or  throw  into  the  shade,  as  men  would  do  for 
him,  those  parts  of  his  character  that  must  give  offence.  If 
that  be  good  policy  which  I  am  venturing  to  expose, 
God  could  have  directed  that  neither  the  works  of  crea- 
tion, nor  the  Bible,  should  have  told  us  the  whole  truth  re- 
specting himself.  He  might  have  suppressed  the  history 
of  that  revolt  in  heaven,  and  its  results,  and  told  us 
nothing  of  hell  and  the  judgment,  nor  named  in  his 
Book  those  attributes  that  throw  around  him  such  an 
atmosphere  of  darkness  and  terror.  He  need  not  have 
given  us,  if  he  had  so  pleased,  the  stories  of  the  deluge, 
and  of  Sodom,  and  of  Korah  and  his  company.  But 
God  has  exposed  the  whole  truth,  and  that  in  the  very 
Book  which  he  has  directed  should  be  our  daily  compa- 
nion. 

If  the  scheme  I  oppose  be  true,  I  know  not  how  to  ac- 
count for  such  a  Bible  as  God  has  put  into  our  hands, 
just  calculated  to  betray  a  secret  that  should  not  have 
been  divulged  for  worlds.     If  there  belong  to  God  any 


ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD.  123 

attributes  that  were  not  intended  to  be  made  known  to 
sinners  till  they  are  reconciled  to  him  ;  if  they  cannot 
safely  be  told  that  he  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every 
day,  has  appointed  a  time  and  place  of  judgment,  and 
prepared  a  deep  and  dark  perdition  for  the  condemned  ; 
if  they  are  to  be  urged  to  come  to  him,  expecting  to  find 
him  all  mercy  ;  then  by  what  alarming  oversight  have  we 
resolved  to  put  the  Bible  into  the  hands  of  sinners  ? 
Must  the  parental  character  of  God  so  dazzle  and  fill  the 
eye,  as  to  eclipse  the  Sovereign,  and  the  Judge,  the 
Abettor  of  truth,  and  the  Avenger  of  wrong  and  of  out- 
rage? And  must  we  never  know  the  whole  character 
of  God,  till  we  have  to  deal  with  him  in  the  judgment? 
Can  we  be  sure  that  the  prodigal,  after  he  has  been  thus 
decoyed  home  to  his  father's  house,  will  be  pleased  with 
his  father  ?  Had  he  not  better  know,  while  away  in  his 
land  of  exile,  exactly  the  father  he  must  meet,  and  the 
father  he  must  love,  and  stay  there  till  this  character  is 
approved  ? 

I  know  not  where  in  the  whole  Bible  we  are  authorised, 
to  elevate  one  attribute  of  God  above  another,  and  term 
the  one  mild  and  the  other  severe.  I  know  not  where 
men  have  learned,  that  there  are  principles  in  the  divine 
nature  and  government,  that  to  be  fully  known  would 
subvert  the  benevolent  design  of  the  gospel.  If  God  has 
thus  instructed  any  of  his  ministers,  and  they  act  by  his 
authority  in  deciding  what  may  and  what  may  not  be 
developed  to  the  world  of  the  ungodly,  I  have  only  to 
say,  "  To  their  own  master  they  stand  or  fall " 

II.  There  is  perhaps  some  occasion  to  fear,  that  some 
have  gone  into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  have  presented 
exclusively  the  more  forbidding  attributes  of  God,  while 
his  grace  and  mercy  have  been  in  this  case  too  much 
concealed.     When  Jehovah  is  exhibited  as  constituted  of 


124 


ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD. 


entire  sovereignty  ;  as  doing  his  pleasure  in  the  armies 
of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  with- 
out the  least  regard  to  the  happiness  and  the  salvation  of 
his  creatures  ;  as  casting  after  the  wayward  and  the  lost, 
no  look  of  compassionate  tenderness ; — can  this  be  a  faith- 
ful exhibition  of  the  character  of  God  1  Should  it  be 
said,  That  God  is  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and  that  he 
has  created  intelligent  beings  on  purpose  that  they  might 
be  the  vessels  of  his  wrath ;  and  has  communicated 
positive  hardness  to  their  hearts,  because  they  did  not 
render  themselves  depraved  enough  for  his  purpose ;  and 
pushed  them  on  to  a  character,  that  would  be  sufficiently 
desperate  for  some  deed  of  darkness,  which  he  had  re- 
solved they  should  perpetrate  ; — would  one  gather  from 
all  this  the  true  character  of  God  ?  I  know  that  I  have 
now  presented  an  extreme  case,  and  sincerely  hope  that 
not  often,  perhaps  never,  is  sovereignty  presented  quite 
so  bare  and  forbidding,  and  the  truth  pushed  to  an  ex- 
tremity so  cold  and  cheerless.  The  objection  to  such 
presentations  is,  that  they  do  not  exhibit  the  whole  cha- 
racter of  God.  He  is  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  only 
where  his  mercy  in  Jesus  Christ  has  been  long  and 
obstinately  rejected.  He  created  intelligent  beings  for 
his  own  glory,  and  will  honour  himself  in  their  perdition, 
if  by  rejecting  the  Saviour,  they  count  themselves  un- 
worthy of  eternal  life.  He  has  hardened  their  hearts  by 
the  very  dispensations  that  should  have  won  them  to 
duty  and  to  God  ;  has  sent  them  strong  delusions  that 
they  might  believe  a  lie  and  be  damned,  when  they  did 
not  believe  the  truth  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness. 
We  must  pour  into  these  strong  exhibitions  of  truth,  in 
order  to  render  them  the  gospel,  and  make  them  useful, 
the  whole  character  of  God. 

How  can  you  hope  to  persuade  rebels  to  submit  them- 


ONE  ONLY  TRUE  GOD.  125 

selves  to  this  bare  and  appalling  sovereignty?     Why 
must  they  become  reconciled  to  their  Creator,  before  they 
may  even  know,  that  he  is  a  God  of  mercy,  or  has  it  in 
his  heart  to  bestow  pardons  1    An  apostle  has  said,  "  If  we 
confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins,   and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."     I 
am  not  without  my  fears,  that  on  this  side  of  the  line  of 
orthodoxy  there  has  sometimes  been  presented  a  charac- 
ter of  God,  as  imperfect,  not  to  say  as  unsafe,  as  when 
only  his  clemency  is  seen.     And  who  can  say  that  God 
would  not  be  as  unwilling,  that  one  set  of  his  attributes 
should  be  exclusively  presented,  as  another  ?     Under 
neither  have  we  a  full  and  honest  portrait  of  the  only  true 
God,  whom  to  know  is  eternal  life.     While  the  one  error 
will  lead  unregenerate  men  to  presume,  that  they  love 
their  Maker,  so  under  the  other  it  is  feared,  that  many 
true  believers  may  be  kept  all  their  life- time  subject  to 
bondage  through  fear  of  perdition.     The  one  will  make 
a  multitude  of  happy  hypocrites,  while  the  other  will 
conduct  to  heaven  whole  churches  of  trembling,  doubting 
believers.     The  one  will  widen  the  fold,  till  the  sheep 
and  the  goats  can  herd  together  ;  the  other  will  contract 
it  till  many  of  the  lambs  must  lie  without,  and  be  exposed 
to  storms  and  beasts  of  prey  ;  and  finally  neither  presents 
correctly  the  character  of  God. 

III.  We  have  sometimes  presented  us  a  picture  of 
warring  attributes.  Mercy  triumphs  over  justice,  and 
grace  is  made  victorious  over  truth  and  righteousness. 
Under  this  system,  God  disapproves  the  properties  of  his 
own  nature,  and  the  principles  of  his  own  government ; 
and  contrives  to  defeat  and  nullify  his  own  decrees.  He 
issued  his  law,  and  pronounced  it  good,  and  made  in  it 
no  provision  for  pardon  ;  none  he  could  make  ;  and  when 
the  sinner  broke  that  law,  he  passed  sentence,  and  threat- 


126  ONLY  ONE  T8UE  GOD. 

ened  its  execution.  But  he  is  now  made  to  repent  of  the 
sternness,  and  integrity,  and  purity,  that  dictated  that 
law,  and  uttered  that  sentence,  and  threatened  its  execu- 
tion :  and  is  reresolved,  that,  come  what  will  of  reproach 
upon  his  name,  and  injury  to  his  government  and  king- 
dom, the  sinner  shall  not  suffer.  He  built  a  place  of  tor- 
ment, and  separated  it  from  heaven  by  a  bottomless  gulf, 
and  made  it  a  dark,  and  dreary,  and  desolate  abode  ;  but 
he  has  since  had  better  and  milder  views  ;  has  decreed 
that  ultimately  the  gulf  shall  become  passable,  the  fires 
shall  go  out,  and  the  worm  shall  die. 

And  all  this  is  contrived  to  save  the  divine  honour. 
To  let  God  be  what  he  is,  and  do  what  he  has  said,  and 
carry  into  execution  his  own  purpose,  would,  it  is  believed, 
so  hurt  his  reputation  with  the  population  of  the  apostacy 
that  any  thing,  that  can  be,  must  be  done  to  save  it. 
There  must  rather  be  suspicion  cast  over  the  whole  record 
that  would  exhibit  God  as  so  inflexibly  holy,  and  re- 
proach poured  in  upon  the  bigotted  multitude  that  would 
so  rigidly  explain  the  word.  The  Book  of  God,  plain  as 
it  is,  may  rather  mean  nothing,  and  John  record  falsely, 
and  Paul  reason  inconclusively,  than  to  blot  so  foully  and 
fatally  the  divine  reputation. 

To  complete  the  picture,  the  Son  of  God  is  despatched 
from  heaven  to  take  the  part  of  sinners,  and  shield  them 
from  the  sword  of  a  devouring  justice.  He  saw,  it  seems, 
that  the  execution  of  the  law  would  ruin  the  credit  of  the 
court  of  heaven  which  gave  sentence,  and  hasted  down 
to  counteract  the  decree.  What  was  stern,  and  unbend- 
ing, and  cruel  in  the  Father,  has  been  softened  down  in 
the  Son.  He  covers  the  rebel  with  his  hand,  smiles  on 
him,  wipes  away  his  tears,  and  prays  him  to  forgive  a 
father's  unjust  severity.  His  errand  was  to  stay  the  rod 
of  justice.     He  makes  no  atonement,  none  is  necessary, 


ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD.  127 

asks  no  change  of  heart  in  the  culprit,  but  a  mere  reform, 
as  the  condition  of  pardon  and  life. 

Thus  has  the  character  of  God  been  so  exhibited,  as  to 
involve  heaven  in  a  quarrel,  and  place  the  persons  of  the 
Godhead  at  issue,  on  the  question,  whether  the  honours 
of  the  broken  law  deserve  to  be  repaired,  or  its  Author 
shall  sink  into  universal  disrespect  ?  What  in  the  mean 
time  shall  happen  to  the  divine  government  in  heaven, and 
in  all  the  worlds  that  have  continued  loyal,  and  have  had 
hitherto  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  unchangeably  wise 
and  holy  God  ?  O,  I  feel  that  the  ground  on  which  I 
stand  is  holy  !  Will  God  forgive  me,  if  in  attempting  to 
vindicate  his  honour,  1  have  drawn  near  to  him  without 
being  duly  sanctified. 

I  know  that  men  who  have  resolved  to  go  on  in  sin, 
who  have  long  been  offended  at  the  purity  and  extent  of 
the  law,  and  would  not  care  if  all  the  rights  of  the  God- 
head were  trampled  upon,  find  it  very  convenient  to  have 
the  character  of  God  thus  brought  down  to  their  taste 
and  their  temper.  They  will  support  and  will  love  a 
gospel,  that  will  thus  make  God  altogether  such  an  one 
as  themselves.  Give  them  a  gospel  like  this,  and  in  half 
a  century  there  will  not  be  an  avowed  infidel  on  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth.  Gladly  would  they  be  rid  of  the  re- 
proach of  infidelity,  could  they  have  a  gospel  that  would 
promise  them  a  salvation  equally  cheap  and  convenient. 

If  God  will  give  out  his  word,  and  then  break  it ;  will 
make  a  law,  and  when  men  have  fallen  under  its  curse, 
repeal  it ;  will  join  the  rebel  in  hating  his  own  attributes  ; 
will  issue  an  edict,  and  then  a  counter  edict  by  which  the 
first  is  neutralized  ;  this  is  all  exactly  as  they  would  have 
it.  God  is  invested  with  all  the  human  weaknesses. 
So  Ahasuerus  would  make  a  decree,  assigning  to  death 
ail  his  Jewish  subjects,  and  then  enact  another,  directing 


128  ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD. 

them  to  arm  themselves  for  their  own  defence,  and  thus 
his  decree  comes  to  the  ground.  But  how  will  God  be 
affected  by  these  inroads  made  upon  his  name  and  his 
glory  ?  Will  he  suffer  his  character  to  be  tampered  with, 
and  finally  to  be  thus  frittered  down  to  the  taste  and  the 
convenience  of  a  polished,  and  proud,  and  worldly,  and 
time-serving  generation  ?  Will  it  still  be  eternal  life  to 
know  him,  altered  thus,  till  not  an  angel  in  heaven 
would  know  him  ?  altered  till  all  that  devils  disapproved, 
and  that  believers  loved,  is  gone? 

Let  me  now  ask  the  advocates  of  all  these  schemes, 
what  they  gain  ?     Why  not  be  willing,  that  the  blessed 
God  be  exhibited  to  the  minds  of  men,  in  the  very  cha- 
racter that  he  gives  himself.     Let  him  be  what  he  de- 
clared himself  to  be,  on  that  occasion  when  it  was  his 
special  object  to  make  himself  known  :  i:  The  Lord,  the 
Lord  God,   merciful  and   gracious,   long-suffering  and 
abundant   in  goodness  and  truth,   keeping   mercy   for 
thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  and  transgression,  and  sin, 
and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty  !  visiting  the 
iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  and  upon  the 
children's  children,  unto  the  third  and  to  the  fourth  gene- 
rations."    Here  we  have,  (if  I  may  still  use  terms  which 
it  grieves  me  to  use,)  the  milder  and  the  severer  attri- 
butes of  God.     In  this  very  character  we  must  deal  with 
him  at  last,  the  same  that  he  was  when  he  spoke  to 
Moses  from  the  cloud.     Let  there  be  a  perfect  balance 
among  his  attributes.     Let  him  be  neither  too  merciful 
to  be  just,  nor  too  "just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  cleanse 
us  from  all  unrighteousness ;"  not  too  compassionate  to 
be  holy,  nor  too  holy  to  smile  again  upon  the  rebel,  who 
has  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  him 
in  the  gospel;  not  too  gracious  to  be  true,  nor  so  the 
friend  of  truth  as  not  to  reverse  the  sentence  of  death, 


ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD.  129 

when  the  condemned  have  repented  and  believed.  God 
can  have  no  darling  attribute  that  shall  eclipse  the  other 
portions  of  his  character  ;  can  issue  no  clashing  edicts  ; 
and  did  not  send  his  Son  to  soothe,  and  flatter,  and  defend 
the  rebel,  whom  his  justice  condemned,  leaving  him  still 
in  all  his  stubbornness  and  his  pride. 

Why  this  zeal  to  create  confusion  in  the  counsels  of 
the  Godhead,  and  sunder  the  attributes  that  cluster  in 
Jehovah  ?  Simply  to  gratify  men  who  cannot  be  pleased 
with  God  as  he  is.  But  would  they  be  pleased  with  God 
were  his  character  altered  ?  They  could  not  love  an 
unjust  God,  unless  indeed  he  would  pledge  himself  never 
to  treat  them  unjustly.  Arid  on  ceasing  to  be  a  God  of 
truth,  he  could  not  give  that  pledge.  The  sinner  will 
reason,  When  God  shall  cease  to  be  offended  with  me 
for  wronging  my  neighbour,  he  will  not  be  offended 
with  my  neighbour  for  injuring  me.  If  1  may  hurt  an- 
other, and  escape  with  impunity,  my  oppressor  escapes 
also.  If  /  may  prey  upon  the  contents  of  his  purse, 
and  trample  upon  his  rights,  and  sport  with  his  enjoy- 
ments; then  is  there  a  world  let  loose,  to  trifle  with  my 
interest,  and  make  inroads  upon  my  rights,  and  blast 
my  comforts. 

Thus  is  there  spread  a  ruin  as  wide  as  the  whole  crea- 
tion of  God.  Angels  lose  their  confidence  in  him,  and 
all  heaven  is  made  unhappy,  while  the  despair  of  the 
pit  is  changed  for  the  hope  of  impunity.  We  assert  then, 
that  not  the  grossest  infidelity,  nor  even  atheism,  holds 
out  a  prospect  more  dreary,  than  a  gospel,  that  thus 
libels  the  character  of  Jehovah,  and.  by  one  grand  mis- 
take, sunders  the  whole  of  this  alienated  world  forever, 
from  the  authority,  and  the  rule,  and  the  inspection,  of 
an  intrusive  and  disgustful  divinity. 

And  when  the  error  is  on  the  opposite  extreme,  and  the 
12 


130  ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD. 

mercy  of  God  is  obscured,  though  a  different  motive  may 
have  led  to  this  exhibition,  and  a  different  result  may 
follow,  still  is  that  motive  a  mistaken  one,  and  that  re- 
sult unhappy.     God   has  not  directed  his  ministers  to 
keep  the  minds  of  his  people  filled  with  one  or  two  se- 
lected attributes  of  bis  nature,  but  would  have  his  whole 
character  developed.     Some  may  be  deterred  from  em- 
bracing religion,  from  the  impression  that  they   must 
love  a  God  whose  character  is  cold,  calculating,  severe, 
and  vindictive.     And  if  sanctified  under  such  a  gospel, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  their  religion  will  not  be  either 
gloomy  and  desponding,  or  coldly  doctrinal  and  polemic. 
The  character  of  God  will  not  be  found  at  last  to  have 
shaped  itself  to  our  mistaken  views  of  him  ;  but  will  be, 
when  we  come  to  deal  with  him  in  the  judgment,  what 
it  always  was.     The  attributes  and  the  glories  that  may 
now  be  obscured,  eclipsed  or  neutralized,  will  all  be  there 
to  cluster  and  harmonize  in  the  burning  glories  of  the 
Godhead,  on  the  day  of  retribution.     A  God  will  then 
meet  us  as  holy,  and  just,  and  true,  as  the  law,  and  the 
lightnings  of  Sinai  would  make  him  ;  and  still  as  merci- 
ful, and  gracious,  and  long-suffering,  as  Pisgah,  and 
Tabor,  and  Calvary  have  declared  him.     He  will  con- 
fess himself  in  that  day  the  Author  of  all  the  anathemas 
and  all  the  promises  of   inspiration.      Time  will  not 
have  altered  his  character,  nor  the  exigencies  of  betrayed 
and  ruined  souls  moved  him  from  a  single   purpose. 
There  will  gather  in  his  brow  all  the  majesty  that  makes 
devils  afraid,  and  all  the  sweetness  that  makes  angels 
glad  ;  the  one  will  look  the  lost  into  despair,  and  the 
combined  glories  of  the  whole  look  the  saved  into  ecs- 
tasy.    Then  will  be  felt  the  full  import  of  the  text ;  the 
only  true  God  will  be  known,  and  to  know  him  will  be 
eternal  life. 


ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD.  131 


REMARKS. 

I  have  three  reasons  to  offer  for  thinking  this  subject 
of  great  importance. 

1.  Men  will  have  a  moral  character  according 
with  their  vieios  of  God.  As  the  truth  sanctifies,  just 
so  surely  does  error  contaminate,  and  no  truths  or  errors 
so  assuredly  as  those  that  relate  to  God.  They  invaria- 
bly pour  their  influence  through  our  whole  creed,  and 
touch  every  spring  of  action.  Hence,  if  men  think 
rightly  of  God,  I  cannot  but  hope  that  the  truth  will  one 
day  sanctify  them  ;  but  if  otherwise  I  have  fearful  ap- 
prehensions of  their  ruin.  The  basest  of  men  act  from 
principle,  though  from  bad  principle.  They  are  profane, 
and  false,  and  lewd,  and  dishonest,  because  some  false 
views  of  God  have  begotten  in  them  the  hope  of  impu- 
nity. From  a  loose  ministry,  or  vicious  parentage,  or 
vile  associate,  they  have  imbibed  the  principles  that  go 
to  mould  their  deeds  and  their  habits  into  the  image  of 
death.  You  may  pass  down,  if  you  please,  through  all 
the  ranks  of  immorality,  from  the  young  man  in  the 
gospel,  who  loved  the  world  more  than  Christ,  to  the 
abandoned  outlaw,  and  you  will  find  as  many  different 
shades  in  their  faith,  as  in  the  turpitude  of  their  deeds. 
And  every  unregenerate  man  stands  prepared  to  have 
his  faith  corrupted.  He  loves  darkness  rather  than 
light,  because  his  deeds  are  evil.  He  is  on  the  watch  to 
hear  something  said  of  God,  that  may  assist  him  in 
loosening  the  bonds  of  moral  obligation.  Hence  many 
a  youth  has  issued  from  the  house  of  prayer,  modest, 
civil,  and  decent,  fearing  an  oath,  respecting  the  Sab- 
bath, doing  homage  to  religion,  and  giving  high  promise 
of  future  worth  and  usefulness ;  but  some  wretch  cor- 
rupted his  views  of  God,  ana*  immediately  he  cast  off 


132  ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD. 

restraint,  and  went  out  to  scatter  through  society  fire- 
brands, arrows  and  death.  Hence,  if  we  regard  the 
eternal  life  of  our  children,  and  the  youth  in  our  streets, 
we  shall  furnish  them  a  gospel,  and  a  library,  and  give 
them  that  instruction  which  will  lead  them  to  a  correct 
knowledge  of  God. 

2.  Believers  will  have  a  religious  character  ac- 
cording with  their  views  of  God.  Nothing  has  been 
more  obvious  in  the  history  of  man,  than  the  conformity 
of  his  religious  character  to  that  of  the  God  he  believed  in 
and  worshipped.  Pass  through  the  territories  of  pagan- 
ism, and,  such  as  you  find  their  gods,  such  are  their 
worshippers.  Are  they  fierce,  and  jealous,  and  lewd, 
and  bloody,  or  mild  and  placable,  such  invariably  are 
their  devotees.  And  as  you  come  up  through  the  lower 
grades  of  nominal  Christians,  ask  them  their  views  of 
God,  and  their  answer  will  give  you  substantially  the 
purity  of  their  religious  character.  God  is  our  highest 
object  of  respect  and  of  imitation,  and  to  be  like  him,  the 
highest  object  of  holy  aspiration.  Hence,  if  in  our  esteem, 
his  character  is  more  or  less  pure  and  lovely,  such  we 
shall  wish  our  own  to  be.  He  who  sees  in  God  no  at- 
tribute but  mercy,  and  never  thinks  of  him  but  as  a  fa- 
ther, will  be  less  likely  to  hate  sin,  and  less  careful  to  be 
holy,  than  the  man  who  thinks  of  God  as  a  sovereign, 
and  a  judge,  as  well  as  a  father. 

And  the  case  will  be  similar  as  to  enjoyment.  No 
false  views  of  God  will  render  us  as  happy  as  correct 
views.  If  we  see  only  the  mild  and  merciful  traits  of 
the  divine  character,  we  may  have  joy,  but  it  will  not  be 
solid  and  lasting.  And  if  we  look  at  God  merely  in  the 
attitude  of  sovereignty,  and  may  never  call  him  our 
Father,  or  see  his  mercy  commingled  with  his  terrors, 
we  shall  be  forever  in  bondage.     There  are  no  doubt 


ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD.  133 

many  on  their  way  to  heaven,  who  are  so  injured  by  their 
creed,  as  seldom  to  pray  any  other  but  the  prayer  of  the 
condemned  and  the  lost.  They  are  serious  and  watchful 
Christians,  but  never  hopeful,  and  never  happy  :  joint 
heirs  with  Christ,  yet  never  venturing  to  say,  Abba 
Father ! 

Nor  will  Christians  who  have  partial  views  of  God  be 
useful.  It  is  when  he  appears  in  all  his  glories,  attract- 
ing sinners  to  himself  by  the  full  view  of  his  attributes, 
and  mingling  mercy  with  judgment,  reigns  to  make  his 
creatures  happy,  that  we  feel  our  souls  inspired  to  be 
workers  together  with  him  in  extending  his  dominions. 
It  is  then  that  it  seems  to  us  a  grief  and  a  pity,  that 
there  should  be  any  heart  alienated  from  him,  any 
hands  that  do  not  labour  in  his  service,  or  tongue  that 
does  not  speak  his  praise.  Not  the  sovereignty  of  God 
alone,  nor  his  mercy  alone,  can  make  the  most  useful 
man.  The  one  holds  back  the  inspiring  influence  of 
joy  and  hope,  the  other  begets  a  religion  that  will  all 
evaporate  in  songs  and  hosannas.  Angels  are  inspired, 
by  seeing  the  whole  of  God  ;  and  men  will  be  more  or 
less  like  angels,  as  "  The  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Father  of  glory,  shall  give  unto  them  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  himself." 
Then  it  is  that  we  feel  it  to  be  a  reasonable  service,  that 
we  present  our  bodies  and  our  souls  to  him,  a  living  sacri- 
fice, holy  and  acceptable. 

3.  Society  at  large  will  shape  its  moral  aspect  from 
the  prevailing  views  of  God.  As  fraud,  and  falsehood 
and  blood,  invariably  follow  the  track  of  idolatry,  and 
the  dark  places  of  the  earth  are  thus  filled  with  the  habi- 
tations of  cruelty  ;  so  in  the  different  parts  of  Christen- 
dom, you  may  gather  the  prevailing  notions  of  God 
from  the  morals  of  the  community.  Survey  the  darker 
12* 


134  ONLY  ONE  TRUE  GOD 

territories  of  the  Catholic  communion,  and  tell  me  if  in 
rapine  and  murder,  their  population  is  removed  more 
than  a  single  shade  from  the  dreariness  and  desolati  ns 
of  paganism.  Where  in  Christendom  is  life  and  pro- 
perty least  secure ;  where  are  daily  assassinations, 
where  the  whole  population  prepared  for  any  deed  of 
darkness  and  cruelty,  but  where  there  is  least  prevalent 
a  correct  knowledge  of  God.  And  let  any  one  of  the 
better  territories  of  Christendom  become  apostate  in  their 
views  of  God,  and  how  soon  will  vice  spring  up,  the  pub- 
lic morals  be  changed,  the  Sabbath  be  lost,  the  theatre 
thronged,  and  dress  and  vanity  fill  the  place  of  sobriety 
and  prayer !  How  soon  will  the  true  followers  of  Christ 
be  persecuted,  and  family  devotion,  and  Christian  watch- 
fulness, and  all  the  retiring  virtues  of  holier  times  disap- 
pear ! 

Thus  you  have  my  reasons  for  thinking  this  subject 
important.  For  these,  and  others  that  could  be  offered,  I 
would  watch  the  public  creed  relative  to  the  character  of 
God,  more  tenaciously  than  at  any  other  point.  It  is 
the  fortress  I  would  starve  in  defending,  the  strong-hold 
into  which  I  would  fly  with  my  children,  and  feel  myself, 
and  teach  them  to  feel,  that  it  is  the  only  safe  place  to 
die. 

Will  the  blessed  God  make  me  far  better  acquainted 
with  his  character,  and  never  subject  me  to  the  awful 
temptation,  of  thinking  it  a  light  thing  to  either  overlook, 
or  give  paramount  importance,  to  any  one  of  the  glorious 
attributes  of  his  nature.  Will  he  cause  his  name  to  be 
known  in  all  lands,  and  make  his  praise  glorious,  wher- 
ever there  are  beings  capable  of  doing  him  honour. 


SERMON    L . 

THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

Isaiah  xlix.  1 6. 

I  have  graven  thee  upon  the  palms  of  my  hands  ;  thy  walls  are  continually 
before  me. 

The  Jewish  church,  during  her  captivity,  would  be 
led  to  conceive  that  God  had  forsaken,  and  forgotten 
her.  To  effectually  remove  this  impression;  God  by  his 
prophet  appeals  to  one  of  the  tenderest  relationships  of 
life.  "  Can  a  woman  forget  her  sucking  child,  that  she 
should  not  have  compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb  'I 
yea  they  may  forget,  yet  will  1  not  forget  thee."  Thus 
would  he  give  to  Zion,  assurance  of  his  unchangeable 
love.  His  people  should  multiply,  till  the  land,  where 
their  foes  destroyed  them,  should  be  too  limited  for  then- 
increased  population.  Kings  and  nations  should  serve 
them,  and  do  them  honour.  Zion  was  dear  to  him  as 
the  apple  of  his  eye.  He  would  engrave  her  upon  the 
palms  of  his  hands ;  her  walls  should  be  continually 
before  him. 

In  those  days,  it.  was  the  custom  to  paint  upon  the 
palms  of  the  hands  such  objects  as  men  wished  to  re- 
member, in  allusion  to  which  custom  God  assures  his 
people,  that  he  had  graven  Zion  upon  the  palms  of  his 
hands.  Thus  should  her  walls  be  continually  before 
him  ;  he  would  not  forget  her  a  moment,  nor  suffer  any 


136  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

foe  to  injure  her.  We  have  here  a  broad  and  sacred 
pledge,  to  be  kept  in  mind  by  the  people  of  God  in  all 
ages,  and  plead  in  their  prayers,  that  he  will  foster  and 
bless  his  church,  and  will  employ  his  vigilance  and  his 
power  to  secure  her  safety,  and  advance  her  honours. 

Thus  is  the  church  safe,  and  the  people  of  God  need 
have  no  apprehensions,  nor  weep  a  tear,  but  over  their 
own  transgressions,  and  the  miseries  of  that  multitude, 
who  will  not  be  pursuaded  to  take  sanctuary  in  her 
bosom.  I  shall  argue  the  safety  of  the  church,  from  the 
firmness  and  stability  of  the  divine  operations,  from 
what  God  has  already  done  for  his  church,  what  he  is 
now  doing,  and  what  he  has  promised  to  do. 

I.  We  assure  ourselves,  that  the  church  is  safe,  from 
the  firmness  and  stability  of  the  divine  operations.  I 
now  refer,  not  merely  to  the  unchangeableness  of  God, 
which  will  lead  him  to  pursue  for  ever  that  plan  which 
his  infinite  wisdom  devised  ;  for  that  plan  lies  concealed 
from  us ;  but  to  that  uniform  and  steady  course  with 
which  he  has  pursued  every  enterprise  which  his  hands 
have  begun.  That  he  is  of  the  same  mind,  and  that 
none  can  turn  him,  is  a  thought  full  of  comfort ;  but 
that  he  has  finished  every  work  which  he  took  in  hand 
is  a  fact,  which  intelligences  have  witnessed,  and  one 
on  which  we  may  found  our  richest  expectations. 

The  worlds  which  he  began  to  build  he  finished.  Not 
one  was  left  half  formed  and  motionless.  Each  he 
placed  in  its  orbit,  gave  it  light,  and  laws,  and  impulse. 
And  ever  since  this  first  development  of  the  divine  sta- 
bility, the  wheels  of  Providence  have  rolled  on  with 
steady  and  settled  course.  What  Omnipotence  began, 
whether  to  create  or  to  destroy,  he  rested  not  till  he  had 
accomplished. 

When  he  had  become  incensed  with  our  world,  and 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  137 

purposed  its  desolation,  with  what  a  firm  and  steady  step 
did  he  go  on  to  achieve  his  purpose.  Noah  builds  the 
ark,  and  God  prepares  the  fountains,  which,  at  his  word, 
burst  from  their  entrenchments  to  drown  an  impious 
generation. 

How  have  suns  kept  their  stations,  and  planets  rolled 
in  their  orbits,  by  the  steady  pressure  of  the  hand  of  God  ; 
by  their  revolutions  measuring  out  the  years  of  their  own 
duration,  and  by  their  velocity  urging  on  the  amazing 
moment  when  they  shall  meet  in  dread  concussion,  and 
perish  in  the  contact.  How  fixed  their  periods,  their 
risings,  their  eclipses,  their  changes,  and  their  transits. 
And  while  they  roll,  how  uniform  is  the  return  of  spring, 
summer,  autumn,  and  winter.  How  certain  every  law 
of  matter,  gravitation;  attraction,  reflection,  &c.  The 
very  comet,  so  long  considered  lawless,  how  is  it  curbed 
and  reined  in  its  eccentric  orbit,  and  never  yet  had  power 
or  permission  to  burn  a  single  world. 

How  sure  is  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  Ages  inter- 
vening cannot  shake  the  certainty  of  its  accomplishment. 
Jesus  bleeds  on  Calvary  four  thousand  years  subse- 
quently to  the  promise  which  that  event  accomplishes. 
Cyrus  is  named  in  the  page  of  prophecy  more  than  two 
hundred  years  before  his  birth,  and  at  the  destined  mo- 
ment becomes  the  Lord's  shepherd,  collects  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  builds  Jerusalem.  The  Jews, 
as  prophets  three  thousand  years  ago  foretold,  are  yet  in 
exile.  The  weeping  prophet,  now  at  rest,  still  sees  the 
family  he  loved  peeled  and  scattered,  and  the  soil  that 
drank  his  tears,  cursed  for  their  sins  ;  and  confident  that 
God  is  true,  waits  impatient  the  certain,  but  distant  year 
of  their  redemption. 

Wretches  that  dare  his  power,  God  will  not  disturb 
his  plan  to  punish.     The  old  world  flourished  one  hun- 


138  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

dred  and  twenty  years  after  heaven  had  cursed  that 
guilty  race.  Sodom  was  a  fertile  valley  long  after  the 
cry  of  its  enormities  had  entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord 
of  Sabbaoth.  The  Amorites  were  allowed  five  hundred 
years  to  till  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquity  after  God 
had  pledged  their  land  to  Abram,  although  Israel  wrore 
away  the  intervening  years  in  bondage.  Many  a  mur- 
derer has  been  overtaken  by  the  hand  of  justice,  half  a 
century  past  the  time  of  the  bloody  deed.  God  will 
punish  all  the  workers  of  iniquity,  but  he  waits  till  the 
appointed  moment.  Like  the  monarch  of  the  forest,  he 
comes  upon  his  enemies,  conscious  of  his  strength,  with 
steady  but  dreadful  steps.  In  his  movements  there  is 
neither  frenzy,  passion,  nor  haste.  While  his  judgments 
linger,  his  enemies  ask,  "  Where  is  the  promise  of  his 
coming  V]  but  let  them  know,  that  he  has  appeared,  and 
discomfited  many  a  foe ;  and  the  inference  is  that  they 
must  perish  too.  Whatever  God  begins,  he  finishes  •' 
no  unseen  embarrassment  can  turn  his  eye  from  his  ori- 
ginal purpose. 

Now  the  argument  is,  that  as  God  has  begun  to  erect 
a  church,  lie  will  act  in  this  matter  as  in  all  others.  If 
one  of  light  character,  a  man  given  to  change,  had  laid 
the  foundation  of  some  mansion,  there  would  still  be 
doubt  whether  it  would  ever  receive  its  top-stone.  But 
suppose  his  character  exactly  the  reverse,  and  the  mo- 
ment he  breaks  the  ground  imagination  sees  the  mansion 
finished  :  now  only  make  God  the  builder  and  the  argu- 
ment is  perfect.  Whether  we  can  trace  his  footsteps  or 
not,  he  moves  on  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose 
with  undeviating  course.  Every  event,  in  aspect  bright 
or  dark,  promotes  the  ultimate  increase  and  establishment 
of  his  church.  Or  shall  this  be  the  only  enterprise  to 
which  his  wisdom,  his  power,  or  his  grace,  is  inadequate? 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  139 

In  this  solitary  instance  shall  he  begin  to  build  and  not 
be  able  to  finish  ?  What  would  be  thought  of  him  in 
hell,  if  the  mystical  temple  should  never  receive  its  top- 
stone?  Its  fires  may  go  out,  the  worm  may  die,  or 
some  infernal  genius  bridge  the  gulph.  Heaven  too 
would  lose  all  confidence  in  its  King,  and  every  harp  be 
silent. 

Thus  before  we  examine  the  history  of  the  church,  or 
read  the  promises,  if  we  believe  that  God  ever  had  a 
church,  we  have  the  strongest  possible  'presumptive 
evidence,  that  he  will  watch  her  interests,  will  feed  the 
fires  upon  her  altars,  will  bring  her  suns  from  far,  and 
her  daughters  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  will  never 
leave  her,  nor  forsake  her.  "I  have  graven  thee  upon 
the  palms  of  my  hands;  thy  walls  are  continually  before 
me." 

II.  Our  expectations  brighten  when  we  see  what  God 
has  done  for  his  church.  My  first  argument  went  to 
show,  that  if  God  had  only  laid  the  corner-stone  of  this 
heavenly  building,  it  would  rise  and  be  finished.  We 
are  now  to  view  the  building  half  erected,  and  from  what 
has  been  done  argue  the  certainty  of  its  completion. 
The  church  has  been  under  the  fostering  care  of  heaven 
too  long  to  be  abandoned  now. 

Let  us  retrace  for  a  moment  a  few  pages  of  her  his- 
tory, and  we  shall  see  that  when  the  church  was  low, 
he  raised  her  ;  when  she  was  in  danger,  he  saved  her. 
Amid  all  the  moral  desolations  of  the  old  world,  the 
church  never  became  extinct.  And  he  at  length  held 
the  winds  in  his  fist,  and  barred  the  fountains  of  the 
deep,  till  Noah  could  build  the  ark,  and  the  church  be 
housed  from  the  storm. 

How  wonderful  were  his  interpositions  when  the 
church  was  embodied  in  the  family  of  Abraham  !     In 


140  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

redeeming  her  from  Egyptian  bondage,  how  did  he 
open  upon  that  guilty  land  all  the  embrasures  of  heaven, 
till  they  thrust  out  his  people.  And  lie  conducted  them 
to  Canaan  by  the  same  masterly  hand.  The  sea  divid- 
ed, and  Jordan  rolled  back  its  waters ;  the  rock  became 
a  pool,  and  the  heavens  rained  them  bread,  till  they 
drank  at  the  fountains,  and  ate  the  fruits  of  the  land  of 
promise.  Their  garments  lasted  forty  years,  and  the 
angel  Jehovah,  in  a  cloud  of  light,  led  them  through  the 
labyrinths  and  dangers  of  the  desert. 

When  the  church  diminished,  and  her  prospects 
clouded  over,  he  raised  up  reformers.  Such  were  Samu- 
el, and  David,  and  Hezekiah,  and  Josiah,  and  Daniel, 
and  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah  :  such  were  all  the  prophets. 
Each  in  his  turn  became  a  master-builder,  and  the  tem- 
ple rose,  opposition  notwithstanding. 

Again,  under  the  apostles,  how  did  her  prospects 
brighten.  In  three  thousand  hearts,  under  a  single 
sermon,  commenced  the  process  of  sanctification.  The 
very  cross  proved  an  engine  to  erect  her  pillars ;  the 
flames  lighted  her  apartments,  and  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  cemented  the  walls  of  her  temple,  and  contribut- 
ed to  its  strength  and  beauty.  Every  dying  groan 
alarmed  the  prince  of  hell,  and  shook  the  pillars  of  his 
dreary  domain 

But  the  church  again  sunk,  and  hell  presumed  that 
her  ruin  would  be  soon  achieved,  when  the  sixteenth 
century  lifted  upon  her  the  dawn  of  hope.  In  Luther, 
Calvin,  Melancthon,  and  Zuinglius,  her  interests  found 
able  advocates.  They  appeared  at  the  very  juncture 
when  the  sinking  church  needed  their  courage  and  their 
prayers.  Like  some  mighty  constellation,  which  bursts 
from  the  east  at  the  hour  of  midnight,  they  rose  when 
moral  darkness  was  almost  total,  and  like  that  of  Egypt 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  141 

could  seem  to  be  felt.  By  their  aid  the  church  emerged 
from  the  wilderness.  By  their  courage  her  grand  ene- 
my was  made  to  tremble  on  his  ghostly  tribunal.  The 
power  of  the  Pope  had  then  outgrown  the  strength  of 
every  civil  arm.  Every  monarch  in  Europe  was  at  his 
feet.  Till  Luther  rose  no  power  could  cope  with  him. 
There  was  a  true  church,  but  she  had  no  champion. 
The  followers  of  Jesus  paid  for  the  privilege  of  disciple- 
ship  with  their  blood.  He  who  dared  to  be  guided  by 
his  own  conscience,  committed  an  offence  that  could  not 
be  pardoned.  The  heavenly-minded  saw  no  relief  but 
in  death,  and  thirsted  for  the  honour  of  a  martyrdom 
that  would  place  them  in  a  world  where  conscience 
might  be  free.  But  God  appeared  and  redeemed  his 
people.  The  theme  is  pleasant,  but  time  would  fail  me 
to  rehearse  what  God  has  done  for  his  church.  Every 
age  has  recorded  the  interpositions  of  his  mercy  ;  and 
every  land  where  there  is  a  remnant  of  his  church,  bears 
some  monument  that  tells  to  his  honour,  and  which  will 
endure  till  the  funeral  of  the  world. 

Now  the  argument  is,  that  he  who  has  done  so  much 
for  his  church  will  never  abandon  her.  If  he  would 
float  her  above  a  drowning  world,  would  redeem  her 
from  bondage,  would  escort  her  through  the  desert, 
would  rain  her  bread  from  heaven,  would  reprove  kings 
for  her  sake,  would  stop  the  sun  to  aid  her  victories  ; — 
with  his  smiles,  light  the  glooms  of  her  dungeon,  and  by 
his  presence  cool  the  fires  of  the  stake,  there  can  be  no 
fear  for  her  safety. 

God  will  do  just  such  things  for  Zion  as  he  has  done, 
"  The  thing  that  hath  been,  it  is  that  which  shall  be." 
His  arm  is  not  shortened,  nor  his  ear  heavy.  The 
church  was  never  nearer  his  heart  than  now.  And  he 
now  hates  her  enemies  as  really  as  did  he  Pharaoh,  Sen- 

13 


142  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

nacherib,  Nero,  or  Julian.     He  then  governed  the  world 
for  the  sake  of  his  church  ;  and  for  her  sake  he  governs 
it  still,   "  The  Lord's  portion  is  his  people."     We  know 
not  that  he  ever  had  but  one  object  in  view  in  the  events 
that  have  transpired  in  our  world  ;  and  that  one  the 
honour  of  his  name  in  the  redemption  of  his  people: 
and  this  object  sways  his  heart  still.    The  destruction  of 
the  enemy  is  a  part  of  the  same  plan.     Still  may  the 
church  invoke  the  Lord  God  of  Elijah,  may  rest  under 
the  protection  of  lhe  God  of  Bethel,  and  wrestle  with  the 
Angel  of  Penuel.     If  she  should  be  in  bondage  there 
will  rise  another  Moses,  another  cloud  will  conduct  her 
out   of    Egypt,    and  the  same  heavens  will  rain   her 
manna.      If   darkness    should  overshadow  her,    there 
will  be  found  among  the  sons  she  hath  brought  up,  an- 
other Luther,  Calvin,  or  Knox,  to  take  her  by  the  hand, 
to  protect  her  honours,  and  recruit  her  strength.    Shame 
on  the  Christian  who  knows  her  history,  and  yet  is 
afraid.     Afraid  of  what?     That  God  will  cease  to  de- 
fend the  apple  of  his  eye  ?     Afraid  that  the  city  graven 
upon  the  palms  of  his  hands  may  be  captured  and  de- 
stroyed ?     If  God  continue  to  do  such  things  as  he  has 
done,  the  church  with  all  her  retinue  is  safe.     "  God  is 
known  in  her  palaces  for  a  refuge." 

III.  God  is  doing  now  just  such  things  as  he  has 
done.  We  saw  laid  the  corner-stone,  and  drew  thence 
our  first  argument.  Then  we  saw  the  building  half 
erected,  and  were  furnished  with  a  second.  We  are 
now  to  view  the  edifice  covered  with  builders,  and  from 
their  exertions  derive  our  third.  We  may  now  reason 
from  things  that  our  eyes  can  see.  We  may  appeal  for 
testimony  to  the  very  saw  and  hammer,  and  make  the 
scaffold  speak. 

It  may  be  that  some  who  are  present  are  not  sensible 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  143 

in  what  a  day  of  heavenly  exploit  they  live.  Do  you 
know  what  amazing  events  are  transpiring  ?  Have  you 
learned  that  Bible  societies  are  forming  in  every  part  of 
Christendom  ?  and  that  the  Scriptures  are  now  read  in 
perhaps  a  hundred  languages,  in  which,  till  lately,  not  a 
text  of  inspired  truth  was  ever  written?  Do  you  know 
that  the  late  editions  of  God's  word  have  commenced 
their  circulation,  are  traversing  the  desert,  taming  the 
savage,  and  pouring  celestial  light  on  eyes  that  never 
met  its  beams  before  1 

Do  you  know  the  prevalence  of  a  missionary  spirit  ? 
Have  you  learned,  that  youth  of  the  first  character,  of 
the  fairest  prospects,  and  of  both  sexes,  aspire  to  be  mis- 
sionaries of  the  cross  1  Some  have  gone,  and  others 
wait  impatiently  till  your  charity  shall  send  them. 

Many  a  mother  has  devoted  her  daughter  to  the 
work,  and  waits  for  opportunity  to  give  her  the  parting 
kiss ;  and  many  a  daughter,  on  whom  has  fallen 
Harriet's  mantle,  aches  to  visit  her  tomb,  and  rest  um 
der  the  same  turf  till  Jesus  bids  them  rise.  And  what 
daughter  of  Zion  is  not  ambitious  of  a  martyrdom  like 
hers? 

How  numerous  and  extensive  the  revivals,  which  at 
present  we  witness  in  our  land  !  Even  where  there  is 
no  stated  ministry,  the  showers  of  grace  descend,  and  the 
waste  places  are  made  fertile.  What  other  page  of  the 
Church's  history,  but  the  present,  could  record  an  almost 
universal  concert  of  prayer  ?  Christians  of  every  conti- 
nent employing  the  same  hour  in  the  same  supplica- 
tions. How  unparalleled  the  success  of  every  Chris- 
tian enterprise !  No  plan  of  mercy  ever  fails.  The 
active  Christian  is  amazed  at  the  result  of  his  own 
exertions. 

Much  that  God  is  now  doing  is  evidently  preparatory 


144  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

to  future  operations.  Bible  and  missionary  societies 
may  be  viewed  as  the  accumulated  energies  of  the 
Church.  Hitherto  our  exertions  have  been  insulated 
and  feeble.  The  little  streams  fructified  the  plains 
through  which  they  flowed,  but  could  easily  be  dammed 
or  evaporated  ;  but  their  junction  has  formed  a  mighty 
river,  destined  to  penetrate  every  moral  desert,  and  carry 
civilization  to  every  province  of  our  desolated  world  :  fed 
with  the  showers  of  heaven,  and  every  day  flowing  on 
with  deeper  and  [broader  channel ;  the  wilds  of  Arabia, 
the  heaths  of  Africa,  and  the  plains  of  Siberia,  can  op- 
pose no  effectual  barrier  to  its  influence. 

What  age  but  ours  was  ever  blessed  with  Theological 
Seminaries,  where  might  be  reared,  at  the  expense  of 
charity,  young  evangelists,  to  go  out  and  carry  the  bread 
of  life  to  a  starving  world  ?  Fortunes,  collected  for  other 
purposes,  are  poured  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  and 
thus  are  erected  batteries  to  demolish  the  strong-holds 
of  the  prince  of  hell.     Jehovah  bless  their  founders  ! 

Churches  and  congregations,  who,  in  seasons  of  cold- 
ness, grudged  to  support  the  gospel  at  home,  are  now 
equipping  young  men  for  the  missionary  field,  and  for 
their  own  edification.  And  it  has  at  length  become  so 
disreputable  to  stand  idle  in  these  matters,  that  the  man 
who  would  save  his  money,  feels  himself  in  danger  of 
losing  his  character. 

Not  long  since,  young  men  of  piety  and  talents,  who 
Jonged  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord,  must  equip  them- 
selves, and  then  find  poor  support  in  the  service.  But 
the  scale  is  turned.  Where  there  is  no  fortune  but  piety, 
a  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  a  talent  to  improve,  the  way 
is  now  open  to  all  the  honours  of  the  camp  of  Israel- 
The  pious  mother,  who  can  only  drop  her  two  mites  into 
the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  but  whose  example  and  whose 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  145 

prayers  have  saved  her  son,  may  bring  her  Samuel  to  the 
altar,  to  be  fed  from  its  offerings,  and  reared  to  all 
the  honours  of  the  prophetic  office.  While  I  am  yet 
speaking,  hope  springs  up,  and  a  joy  not  felt  in  ages  past, 
thrills  through  all  the  habitations  of  pious  poverty. 

The  late  revivals  possess  one  peculiar  characteristic. 
There  have  been  among  their  fruits  an  unusual  number 
of  males.  When  there  was  little  else  that  could  be  done 
for  Zion,  but  pray  and  weep,  and  love  her  doctrines,  and 
glow  with  heavenly  affections,  the  feebler  sex  could  fur- 
nish the  Christian  world  with  soldiers.  But  now,  when 
the  kingdom  of  darkness  must  be  stormed,  Zion  needs 
the  aid  of  her  sons,  and  God,  it  would  seem,  accommo- 
dates the  operations  of  his  Spirit  to  the  interests  of  his 
Church.  Paul  was  not  converted  till  his  help  was  need- 
ed, and  it  was  not  needed  till  the  gospel  was  to  be  carried 
to  the  Gentiles.  Every  revival  of  late  contradicts  that 
libel  long  legible  on  the  records  of  infidelity.  That  reli- 
gion evinces  its  emptiness  by  its  exclusive  operation 
upon  the  feebler  part  of  our  race.  Recently  the 
strong  and  muscular,  the  very  champions  of  the  host  of 
hell,  have  fallen  before  the  power  of  truth,  and  are  har- 
nessed for  its  defence.  Moreover,  men  of  science,  and  of 
strong  mind,  have  in  their  own  esteem  become  fools, 
and  have  sat  down  to  learn  truth  at  a  Saviour's  feet. 
Our  late  revivals  have  penetrated  schools  and  colleges. 
Satan's  cause  has  been  well  pleaded,  and  God  now  in- 
tends to  plead  his  own  :  and  palsied  will  be  the  tongue 
that  is  silent. 

Does  God  without  design  raise  up  these  instruments  ? 
Would  one  pass  through  a  whole  kingdom,  and  employ 
every  skilful  mechanic,  unless  he  intended  to  erect  some 
mighty  edifice  ?  If,  then,  we  see  God  enlisting  men  in 
his  service,  men  of  strength  and  science,  does  he  not 

13* 


146  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

intend  to  achieve  some  wondrous  design  ?  Assuredly 
the  heavenly  building-  will  rise.  These  talents  will  be, 
and  they  are  already  employed  in  extending  Emanuel's 
empire.  India,  with  other  benighted  lands,  has  already 
received  our  missionaries,  and  her  Moloch,  with  all  his 
cursed  family  of  gods,  sicken  at  their  prospect.  The 
dark  places  of  his  empire  have  been  explored,  and  the 
sceptre  begins  to  tremble  in  his  palsied  hand.  And  poor 
Africa,  more  debased  still,  has  found  a  tongue  to  plead 
her  cause.  Conscience,  long  asleep,  and  deaf  to  her 
rights  has  waked,  and  now,  her  sons,  fed  at  the  table  of 
charity,  are  preparing  to  carry  her  the  bread  of  life.  My 
country,  deeper  in  her  debt  than  all  other  lands,  has  be- 
gun to  pay  its  long  arrears. 

Who  could  have  hoped,  a  few  years  since,  that  he 
should  ever  see  a  day  like  this  1  If,  twenty  years  since, 
one  had  told  me  that  sixty  years  would  so  electrify  the 
Christian  world,  I  should  have  believed  him  visionary, 
and,  like  the  unbelieving  Samaritan,  should  have  pro- 
nounced it  impossible,  unless  God  should  make  windows 
in  heaven,  and  rain  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies  from 
above  :  but  God  has  done  it  all  without  a  miracle.  And 
blessed  be  his  name  — will  those  present  join  me  in  the 
thank-offering  ? — blessed  be  his  name,  that  he  cast  us 
upon  such  an  age  as  this.  Blessed  be  his  name,  that 
we  were  not  born  a  century  sooner.  Then  we  had 
never  seen  the  dawn  of  this  millennial  morning,  nor 
heard  the  glad  tidings  which  now  reach  us  by  every 
mail,  nor  had  an  opportunity,  as  now,  to  purchase  for 
our  offspring,  an  interest  in  the  Lord's  fund.  Charity 
was  then  in  a  deep  sleep.  India  bowed  to  her  idols,  and 
Africa  wore  her  chains,  unpitied  and  unrelieved.  Bu- 
chanan and  Wilberforce.  angels  of  mercy,  were  then 
unborn.     Infidelity  then  desolated  the  fairest  provinces 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SA  FE.  147 

of  Christendom,  and  wars  were  the  applauded  achieve- 
ments of  states  and  empires. 

But  the  age  of  infidelity  has  gone  by,  and  the  bloody 
clarion  has  breathed  out,  I  hope,  its  last  accursed  blast. 
Events  are  transpiring  which  bid  fair  to  bind  all  nations 
in  the  bonds  of  love.  I  had  read  of  such  a  period,  but 
how  could  I  hope  to  see  it  ?  The  present  repose  of  na- 
tions augurs  well  for  the  Church.  Christendom  can 
now  unite  her  efforts  to  evangelize  the  world,  while  the 
sailor  and  the  soldier  have  leisure  and  opportunity  to 
read  the  precious  Scriptures.  And  must  not  all  this  put 
our  unbelief  to  the  blush,  and  cover  us  with  shame  ? 

The  past  twenty  years  have  so  outdone  our  highest 
hopes,  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  predict  what  twenty 
more  may  do.  God  has  begun  to  work  on  a  scale  new 
and  grand;  and  the  inference  is  that  he  will  go  on. 
After  what  we  have  seen,  we  could  hardly  be  surprised 
if  twenty  years  to  come  should  put  the  Bible  into  every 
language  under  heaven,  and  should  send  missionaries, 
more  or  less,  to  every  benighted  district  of  earth.  Let 
benevolent  exertion  increase  in  the  ratio  of  the  past  seven 
years,  and  God  add  his  blessing,  and  half  a  century  will 
evangelize  the  world,  tame  the  lion  and  the  asp,  and  set 
every  desert  with  temples,  devoted  to  the  God  of  heaven. 
When  the  bosom  of  charity  shall  beat  a  little  stronger,  if 
there  should  be  the  necessity,  men  will  sell  houses  or  farms 
to  save  the  heathen  from  hell,  and  the  child  will  sit  down 
and  weep,  who  may  not  say,  that  his  father  and  mother 
were  the  friends  of  missions.  And  what  parent  would 
entail  such  a  curse  upon  his  children,  and  prevent  them 
from  lifting  up  their  heads  in  the  millennium.  I  had 
rather  leave  mine  toiling  in  the  ditch,  there  to  enjoy  the 
luxury  of  reflecting,  that  a  father's  charity  made  them 
poor.     Poor !     They  are  poor  who  cannot  feel  for  the 


148  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

miseries  of  a  perishing  world ;  whom  God  has  given 
abundance,  but  who  grudge  to  use  it  for  his  honour. 
Teach  your  children  charity,  and  they  can  never  be 
poor.  "  The  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat,  and  he  that 
watereth,  shall  be  watered  also  himself."  Can  this  prom- 
ise fail  J  Then  we  can  all  leave  our  children  rich,  and 
the  heirs  too  of  a  fortune  they  can  never  squander.  We 
can  purchase  for  them  the  privilege  of  drawing  upon  the 
exhaustless  resources  of  heaven.  What  a  privilege  now 
to  be  a  parent ! 

But  I  must  return  to  the  argument.  God  is  doing  so 
much  for  his  church,  as  to  warrant  the  inference  that  he 
will  do  still  more.  The  hopes  he  raises  he  will  gratify. 
The  prayer  he  indites,  he  will  answer.  To  see  what 
God  is  doing,  I  find  it  impossible  to  doubt  his  inten- 
tions. The  present  is  a  prelude  to  brighter  scenes.  God 
would  not  have  done  so  much  for  his  people  had  he  in- 
tended to  abandon  them.  The  church  will  live  and 
prosper.  Instead  of  trembling  for  the  ark,  let  us  weep 
that  we  ever  thought  it  in  danger. 

IV.  We  build  the  same  expectations  on  the  promises 
and  prophecies.  The  building  which  we  see  rising 
God  has  promised  to  finish.  He  has  all  the  materials; 
the  silver  and  the  gold  are  his.  He  has  enlisted  the 
builders,  and  prepared  the  necessary  instruments.  The 
decree  has  gone  forth  that  Jerusalem  must  be  built,  and 
God  will  redeem  his  own  gratuitous  pledge  :  he  will  do 
as  he  has  said. 

Early  in  the  reign  of  Emanuel  there  will  be  univer- 
sal peace.  The  nations  are  to  '  beat  their  swords  into 
plough-shares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks." 
«  The  wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the  Lamb,  and  the 
leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid."  «  They  shall  not 
hurt  nor  destroy  in  all "  God's  "  holy  mountain."  «  They 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  149 

shall  sit,  every  man  under  his  vine,  and  under  his  fig- 
tree  ;  and  none  shall  make  them  afraid." 

But  "  the  gospel  must  first  be  published  among  all  na~ 
tions."  On  this  promise  there  pours  at  present  a  stream 
of  heavenly  light.  The  angel  "  having  the  everlasting 
gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,"  is 
beginning  to  publish  it  li  to  every  nation,  and  kindred? 
and  tongue,  and  people."  Kings  are  to  be  to  the  church 
nursing  fathers,  and  queens  nursing  mothers ;  and  they 
have  already  taken  hold  of  the  work  with  interest. 
Their  charity,  their  influence,  and  their  prayers,  have  al- 
ready contributed  to  deepen  and  widen  the  channel  of 
that  river  which  is  making  glad  the  city  of  God.  In  the 
progress  of  this  work  a  nation  shall'be  born  in  a  day.  The 
instance  of  Eimeo  may  be  considered  as  embraced  in  this 
promise.  "  Thy  watchmen  shall  see  eye  to  eye."  This 
promise  has  commenced  its  accomplishment  in  the  harmo- 
ny manifested  in  the  formation  and  support  of  Sabbath 
schools,  and  Bible  and  Missionary  societies.  The  Jews  are 
to  return  to  their  land,  and  to  the  God  of  their  fathers. 
There  shines  some  light  upon  this  promise.  Many  are 
at  present  migrating  to  Palestine  from  the  north  of  Eu- 
rope, some  have  been  converted  to  the  faith  of  Jesus, 
many  not  converted  are  members  of  Bible  societies,  and 
exertions  unparalleled  are  making  to  bring  them  to  the 
light,  while  individuals  of  their  number  are  proclaiming 
to  their  deluded  brethren,  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.     Soon  the  Bible  will  supplant  the  Talmud. 

"  Ethiopia  shall  soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto 
God.''  Who  does  not  see  this  promise  fast  accomplish- 
ing ?  Her  chains  are  falling,  and  her  mind  expanding. 
There  have  commenced  a  train  of  operations  that  prom- 
ise the  richest  blessings  to  the  children  of  Ham.  Soon 
the  Gambia,  the  Niger,  and  the  Nile,  will  grace  their 


150  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

shores  with  Christian  temples,  will  lend  their  waters 
to  fertilize  a  gospel  land,  and  bear  to  his  station  the 
zealous  missionary.  In  the  mean  time  the  wretched 
Arab,  exchanging  his  Koran  for  the  Bible,  and  tamed 
by  its  influence  to  honest  industry,  will  settle  the  quarrel 
with  the  family  of  Jacob,  and  worship  in  the  sairfe 
temple. 

If  we  turn  to  the  threatenings  against  the  enemies  of 
the  Church,  there  open  before  us  large  fields  of  promise. 
Like  the  cloud  that  severed  Pharaoh's  hosts  from  Israel, 
they  pour  impenetrable  darkness  into  the  camp  of  the 
enemy,  while  they  light  the  tents  of  Jacob.  "  The  day 
of  the  Lord  shall  burn  as  an  oven,  and  all  the  proud,  yea, 
and  all  that  do  wickedly,  shall  be  stubble,  and  the  day 
that  cometh  shall  burn  them  up,  saith  the  Lord  ;  that  it 
shall  leave  them  neither  root  nor  branch."  Perhaps  the 
complicated  miseries  which  began  in  the  French  revolu- 
tion, and  were  finished  at  Waterloo,  might  commence 
the  accomplishment  of  this  threatening.  But  doubt- 
less other  storms  will  yet  beat  upon  the  camp  of  the 
enemy,  more  tremendous  than  any  thing  which  they 
have  yet  experienced.  Some  believe  tin.  t  the  fifth  vial 
has  not  yet  been  poured  out  upon  the  seat  of  the  beast ; 
and  all  agree  that  the  forty  and  two  months,  during 
which  the  holy  city  must  be  trodden  under  foot,  are  not 
yet  expired.  It  is  acknowledged  that  the  period  is  twelve 
hundred  and  sixty  years,  and  that  it  commenced  with 
the  reign  of  the  beast,  and  will  probably  terminate  in 
the  present  century.  Possibly  our  dear  chidren  may  live 
to  aee  the  precious  moment  that  shall  close  the  period. 
Then  the  messenger  of  the  covenant  shall  make  his 
glorious  ingress,  shall  destroy  his  enemies,  shall  purify 
the  sons  of  Levi,  and  cleanse  the  offering  of  Judah. 
Then  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  earth 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL   HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  151 

as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  Jesus  shall  take  possession 
of  the  inheritance  promised,  "  and  his  dominion  shall 
be  from  sea,  even  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  even  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth." 

Can  the  dejected  Christian  read  all  this,  and  believe 
it  all,  and  despondingly  weep  still?  And  for  what  does 
he  weep?  God  has  begun  to  erect  a  heavenly  temple  ; 
the  work  has  never  stopped,  and  he  promises  that  it  never 
shall.  He  never  did  abandon  any  work  which  he  be- 
gan, nor  did  there  ever  drop  from  his  lips  a  promise  that 
was  not,  or  will  not  be  fulfilled  And  what  more  can  he 
do  1  Christian,  you  may  weep  on,  but  let  your  tears  be 
tears  of  penitence  or  joy.  Every  harp  should  be  snatch- 
ed from  the  willows,  new  joys  should  be  felt,  and  new 
anthems  sung  in  all  the  assemblies  of  the  saints.  He 
that  shall  come,  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry ;  and 
every  bosom  should  respond,  "  Even  so,  come  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly." 

APPLICATION. 

1.  If  to  any  it  is  a  burden  to  join  in  the  general  con- 
cert of  prayer  for  Zion's  increase,  they  can  excuse  them- 
selves, and  the  glorious  work  will  still  go  on.  There  are 
those  who  consider  the  duty  a  privilege.  If  the  Church 
could  live  without  them,  and  duty  did  not  prompt  them 
to  pray,  they  would  weep  to  be  denied  the  privilege  of 
bearing  her  interests  to  the  throne,  and  of  waiting  for 
the  redemption  of  Israel.  Such  may  wait  still  upon  the 
Lord,  and  may  wait  with  confidence,  that  every  prayer 
will  be  answered,  every  tear  preserved,  and  every  hooe 
accomplished.  But  are  there  those  who  would  wish  to 
be  excused  from  this  service  ?  who  have  no  pleasure  in 
the  duty,  and  no  faith  in  the  promises  ?     Well,  they  can 


152    THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

act  their  pleasure,  and  the  church  will  live.  But, 
whether  such  will  have  any  share  in  the  glories  of 
that  kingdom,  whose  approach  they  dread,  "  demands  a 
doubt." 

2.  If  any  grudge  to  contribute  of  their  wealth,  for 
the  advancement  of  the  Church,  they  can  withhold.  If 
they  have  a  better  use  for  their  money,  or  dare  not  trust 
the  Lord,  there  is  no  compulsion.  Some  happy  beings 
will  have  the  honour  of  the  work.  It  is  to  be  accom- 
plished by  the  instrumentality  of  men,  and  if  any  are 
willing  to  be  excused,  and  insist  on  doing  nothing,  they 
can  use  their  pleasure.  And  if  such  would  ruin  their 
children,  by  holding  them  back,  they  can.  They  can 
form  them  to  such  habits  that  the  world  will  never  be 
disturbed  by  their  munificence.  They  can  prejudice 
them  against  all  the  operations  of  Christian  charity ;  can 
make  them  deaf  to  the  cry  of  the  six  hundred  millions  ; 
can  keep  them  ignorant  of  what  the  Christian  world  is 
doing,  and  what  God  has  commanded  them  to  do.  And 
there  can  then  be  very  little  doubt  but  they  will  have 
children  in  their  own  likeness.  But  whether  God  will 
not  finally  lay  claim  to  their  wealth,  and  cause  it  to  be 
expended  in  beautifying  his  holy  empire,  we  dare  not 
assert.     The  silver  and  the  gold  are  his. 

But  the  work  will  go  on.  Once  our  fears  on  the  sub- 
ject were  great.  We  doubted  whether  the  Christian 
world  would  ever  give  the  heathen  the  gospel.  But  our 
fears  are  removed.  We  have  now  no  apprehension  as 
to  the  issue,  and  can  only  pity  those  who  are  blind  to 
their  duty,  their  interest,  their  honour,  and  their  hap- 
piness. 

3.  If  any  are  willing  to  remain  out  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  they  can  act  their  pleasure  in  this  matter  too,  and 
yet  the  marriage  supper  will  be  full.     The  kingdom  of 


THE  CHURCH  "WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.     153 

Christ  will  be  large  enough  ;  large  as  he  expected,  large 
as  he  desired,  large  as  the  Father  promised ;  large  enough 
to  gratify  the  infinite  benevolence  of  his  heart.  If  any 
do  not  wish  to  live  in  heaven,  the  mansions  they  might 
have  filled  will  be  occupied  by  others.  The  celestial 
choir  will  be  full,  and  the  name  of  Jesus  will  receive  its 
deserved  applauses  from  myriads  who  shall  he  redeemed 
from  every  nation,  kindred,  tongue,  and  people. 

If  sinners  can  do  without  God,  he  can  do  without 
them.  They  will  not  be  forced,  reluctantly,  to  the  mar- 
riage supper  of  the  Lamb.  There  will  be  enough  who 
will  come  willingly.  Heaven  will  be  as  happy  as  it 
would  be  if  more  were  saved.  And  the  prison  of  de- 
spair will  contain  exactly  that  number,  whose  ruin  will 
exhibit  to  the  best  advantage  the  character  of  Jehovah : 
and  the  smoke  of  their  torment,  which  shall  ascend  up 
forever  and  ever,  will  form  a  stupendous  column  on 
which  will  be  written,  legible  to  all  heaven,  holiness, 

JUSTICE,    TRUTH. 

The  vast  accession  made  to  the  church  in  the  late  re- 
vivals, and  the  still  greater  increase  in  the  future  years  of 
millennial  glory,  will  swell  the  number  of  the  saved  be_ 
yond  all  calculation.  Sinners  who  now  join  the  multi. 
titude,  and  are  thus  secured  from  present  reproach,  will 
soon  find  themselves  attached  to  an  insignificant  and 
despicable  minority.  It  would  seem  at  present  that  the 
number  of  the  lost  will  be  great,  but  you  may  multiply 
them  beyond  the  power  of  human  enumeration,  and  still 
there  is  no  fear  but  the  number  of  the  saved  will  be 
greater. 

If  any,  then,  would  prefer  to  remain  out  of  the  king- 
dom, they  have  their  choice,  and  the  shame  and  ruin  will 
be  their  own.  God  intends  to  let  them  do  as  they  please, 
and  those  who  love  his  kingdom  most,  anxious  as  they 

14 


154  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

now  are  for  the  salvation  of  their  fellow-men,  will  at  last 
be  satisfied  with  the  number  of  the  saved.  We  invite 
none  to  become  the  subjects  of  Christ's  kingdom,  but 
those  who  will  esteem  his  yoke  easy  and  his  burden 
light. 

4.  If  any  should  be  disposed  to  enter  into  league  with 
the  lost  angels,  and  oppose  the  Church,  they  can  do  so, 
and  still  the  Church  will  live.  Earth  and  hell  united, 
can  make  no  effectual  opposition  to  her  interests.  God 
is  in  the  midst  of  his  people,  and  will  help  them,  and 
that  right  early.  In  these  circumstances,  one  shall  chase 
a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight. 

Some  opposition  is  necessary  to  awaken  her  energies. 
Solomon  was  seven  years  building  the  first  temple,  when 
all  was  peace ;  but  Ezra,  with  the  trowel  in  one  hand, 
and  the  sword  in  the  other,  could  build  the  second  in 
four.  The  enemy  has  always  promoted  the  interest  he 
wished  to  destroy.  God  will  make  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  him,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  he  will  restrain. 
If  any  would  make  opposition  to  the  growing  interests  of 
Emanuel,  they  can  ;  but  they  wrill  accomplish  their  own 
ruin,  and  perhaps  the  ruin  of  their  children.  It  never 
was  so  dangerous  as  now  to  be  the  enemy  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  All  such  must  be  crushed  under  the  wheels 
of  that  car,  in  which  the  Son  of  God  is  riding  in  triumph 
through  a  conquered  empire.  To  make  opposition  is  as 
unavailing  as  if  a  fly  should  make  an  effort  to  stop  the 
sun.  There  await  the  enemies  of  the  cross,  certain  de- 
feat, shame,  and  ruin.  "  He  made  a  pit,  and  digged  it, 
and  is  fallen  into  the  ditch  which  he  made.  His  mischief 
shall  return  upon  his  own  head,  and  his  violent  dealings 
shall  come  down  upon  his  own  pate."  In  the  mean  time 
the  Church  is  safe.  "  Fear  not.  little  flock  ;  for  it  is  your 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom." 


THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE.  155 

5.  Fathers  and  brethren  in  the  ministry,  this  subject 
will  raise  your  hopes.  Are  you  stationed  where  it  is  all 
darkness  around  you,  and  have  the  hosts  of  hell  alarmed 
you  I  cheer  up  your  hearts.  Try  to  penetrate  the  sur- 
rounding darkness,  and  you  will  soon  be  convinced  that 
your  fears  are  ill-timed.  Speak  to  the  children  of  Israel) 
that  they  go  forward.  If  night  does  seem  to  hover  about 
us,  still  is  it  manifest  that  the  day  has  dawned  upon  the 
hills.  The  Church  has  never  been  in  danger,  and  we 
ought  to  be  ashamed  of  our  fears.  Be  at  your  watch- 
tower,  dear  brethren  ;  turn  your  eye  to  the  east,  and  you 
will  soon  descry  the  light.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  the 
promise,  and  if  a  thousand  transpiring  events  can  speak, 
we  shall  soon  have  opportunity  to  hail  Emanuel  at  his 
second  coming.  If  our  courage  fails  us  in  a  day  like 
this,  we  have  only  to  lie  down  and  die  with  shame. 
While  the  victory  was  doubtful,  you  might  be  afraid, 
and  yet  save  your  character,  but  none  are  afraid  now  but 
the  coward.  Shall  we  hesitate  to  die,  if  necessary,  in 
securing  a  victory  already  gained ;  and  to  gain  which 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  and  many  of  his  soldiers 
have  spilt  their  blood?  Our  missionary  brethren  have 
carried  the  standard  of  the  cross,  and  planted  it  within 
the  entrenchments  of  the  enemy,  and  their  courage  has 
not  failed ;  and  shall  we  tremble  in  the  camp  1  We  shall 
then  have  no  share  in  the  spoil.  Dear  brethren,  I  will 
not  insult  you  ;  you  are  not  afraid  ;  you  will  die  at  your 
post,  and  the  victory  will  be  secured. 

6.  Dear  Christian  brethren,  you  see  the  royal  cano- 
py which  your  Lord  casts  over  your  heads  ;  or  rather  the 
shield  he  spreads  before  you.  If  you  are  not  officers  in 
the  camp  of  Israel,  you  are  soldiers ;  if  you  may  not 
command,  you  may  fight,  but  not  with  carnal  weapons. 
Let  the  subject  raise  your  courage.   A  few  more  conflicts 


156  THE  CHURCH  WITH  ALL  HER  INTERESTS  SAFE. 

and  your  toils  are  ended ;  the  church  is  safe,  and  you  are 
safe.  Only  believe,  and  soon  you  will  see  the  salvation  of 
God.  And  as  the  Saviour  approaches,  and  you  see  him, 
you  may  say  with  the  prophet,  "  Lo,  this  is  our  God  ;  we 
have  waited  for  him,  and  he  will  save  us :  this  is  the 
Lord  ;  we  have  waited  for  him,  we  will  be  glad  and  re- 
joice in  his  salvation." 


SERMON    LI. 

THE     INDEX     SURE  .—No.  I. 

Gen.  xlix.  10. 

The  sceptre  shall   not  depart  from  Judah,    nor  a  law-giver  from  between  his 
feet,  until  Shiloh  come  :  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be. 

Jacob  was  now  very  near  to  the  close  of  life,  and  had 
strong  apprehensions  that  his  end  might  be  at  hand, 
But  he  had  yet  to  deliver  to  his  children  his  dying 
benediction.  He  accordingly  called  them  about  him, 
and  rehearsed  to  them  the  future  history  of  their  re- 
spective families,  for  ages  to  come.  Of  Judah  he  pre- 
dicted, that  he  should  stand  high  in  the  esteem  and 
respect  of  his  brethren,  should  overthrow  his  enemies, 
and  should  bear  rule  over  his  father's  children.  He 
should  come  upon  his  enemies  with  all  the  strength 
and  the  daring  with  which  a  lion  comes  down  from  the 
mountains,  seizes  and  bears  up  his  prey,  while  no  one 
dares  to  interrupt  his  course,  or  rouse  him  when  he  has 
betaken  himself  to  rest.  His  land  should  be  so  abundant 
in  vines,  that  he  might  fasten  his  beast  to  their  branch- 
es, and  wash  his  vestments  in  the  blood  of  the  grape. 
He  should  have  a  dominion  so  permanent,  that  nothing 
should  interrupt  it  till  the  advent  of  Messiah,  who  should 
gather  the  nations  about  him,  and  hold  the  sceptre 
for  ever. 

That  part  of  this  famous  prediction,  on  which  I  pur- 
pose to  enlarge,  has  attracted  the  attention  and  confirm- 

14* 


158  THE    INDEX    SUBE. 

ed  the  faith  of  believers  in  every  age  since.  We  see  here 
selected  a  single  family,  who  for  ages  should  constitute 
his  church,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  ;  with  whom 
he  would  deposit  his  law,  and  all  that  was  divulged 
of  his  purpose.  One  branch  of  this  family  should  be 
honoured  above  the  others,  should  give  birth  to  the 
Messiah  and  hold  the  authority  till  he  come.  Thus 
the  world  shall  expect  their  Redeemer,  shall  know  where 
and  when  to  look  for  him,  and  if  prepared  to  receive 
him,  shall  be  in  no  danger  of  imposition.  The  text  is 
one  of  those  scriptures  that  marked  out  the  time  when 
the  Messiah  should  appear. 

By  the  word  sceptre  we  are  no  doubt  to  understand 
the  ensign  or  badge  of  authority.  The  word  signifies 
a  rod  or  staff,  and  hence  came  to  mean  a  sceptre  ;  as 
kings,  when  they  sat  upon  their  thrones,  used  to  hold  in 
their  hand  a  rod  as  a  token  of  their  authority.  Hence, 
when  Esther  presented  herself  to  the  king,  he  reached 
out  to  her  the  golden  sceptre. 

The  text  gives  us  no  intimation  when  Judah  should 
rise  to  dominion,  but  when  he  should  take  the  sceptre  into 
his  hand  it  should  not  depart  till  the  coming  of  Shiloh. 
We  know  that  for  a  long  time  after  the  delivery  of  this 
inspired  benediction  the  government  of  Israel  was  not 
in  the  tribe  of  Judah  Moses,  their  first  ruler,  was  of  the 
tribe  of  Levi.  The  judges  were  of  several  different  tribes. 
Saul,  the  first  king,  was  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  But 
David,  his  successor,  was  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  ;  and  in 
him  six  hundred  years  after  the  prediction,  the  authority 
commenced  which  is  noticed  in  the  text,  and  which  con- 
tinued till  the  coming  of  the  promised  Shiloh. 

The  Jews,  to  evade  the  force  of  this  prophecy,  would 
have  the  word  translated  sceptre,  to  mean  the  rod  of 
correction,  which,  they  say,  shall  not  depart  from  Judah 


THE    INDEX    SURE.  159 

till  Shiloh  come  and  liberate  them.  But  this  exposition 
is  contrary,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
context,  which  assigns  to  Judah  power,  glory,  and 
victory.  It  would  be  very  singular  if  one  clause  of 
the  benediction  would  give  him  the  pride,  the  strength, 
and  the  independence  of  a  lion,  and  another  clause 
make  him  the  subject  of  perpetual  oppression.  In  the 
second  place,  this  exposition  would  be  contrary  to  mat- 
ters of  historical  fact,  which  the  Jews  themselves  would 
not  have  the  folly  to  contradict.  Judah  was  at  no  one 
period  signalized  as  a  sufferer.  The  rod  of  oppression 
came  earlier,  and  'fell  heavier,  and  continued  longer 
on  the  other  tribes  than  on  Judah.  And  as  Judah  is 
the  only  tribe  that  returned  entire  after  the  captivity, 
it  would  seem  the  only  one  from  which  the  rod  of 
oppression  did  depart.  But  it  is  only  hatred  to  the 
light,  that  has  led  that  unbelieving  people  to  this  inter- 
pretation. The  ancient  Jews,  and  all  who  have  un- 
derstood the  language  of  the  Old  Testament  in  its  origi- 
nal, and  have  had  no  particular  inducement  to  pervert 
the  text,  have  rendered  the  word  sceptre. 

And  the  next  clause  still  farther  explains  this,  "  Nor  a 
law-giver  from  between  his  feet."  It  is  natural  that  a 
sceptre  be  in  the  hands  of  a  law-giver.  But  some  have 
chosen  to  render  the  word  scribe  instead  of  law-giver, 
and  would  have  us  understand  by  it  one  who  is  employ- 
ed in  writing  laws,  either  civil  or  ecclesiastical.  If  this 
rendering  could  be  justified  it  would  not  much  vary  the 
sense.  But  it  is  believed  that  this  rendering  cannot  be 
justified,  as  the  Hebrews  use  for  scribe  another  word. 
Hence  the  passage  means,  that  there  shall  be  in  Judah 
till  the  coming  of  Shiloh,  a  law-giver  as  well  as  the  en- 
sign of  authority.  The  kind  of  government  is  not  speci- 
fied, nor  is  it  important,  as  the  truth  of  the  prophecy  will 


100  THE    INDEX    SURE. 

be  evident,  if  it  shall  appear  that  there  was  in  the  tribe 
of  Judah  any  species  of  authority  down  to  the  advent 
of  the  Redeemer. 

That  by  Shiloh  we  are  to  understand  the  Messiah 
there  will  be  little  doubt.  The  word  thus  rendered  is 
used  only  in  this  place,  yet  is  allowed  by  all  classes  of 
commentators  to  refer  to  the  Redeemer.  Some  interpret 
it  a  peace-maker,  a  Saviour;  others  a  preserver,  a  de- 
liverer ;  and  others  still,  with  greater  probability,  the 
sent,  or  one  to  be  sent.  This  idea  exactly  comports 
with  the  attitude  in  which  the  Saviour  is  presented  to 
us  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  the  angel  of  the  covenant, 
the  angel  Jehovah.  Hence,  in  the  New  Testament,  he 
is  spoken  of  as  him  that  was  to  come.  The  woman  of 
Samaria  said  to  our  Lord,  "I  know  that  Messiah  cometh, 
which  is  called  Christ :  when  he  is  come  he  will  tell  us 
all  things.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  I  that  speak  to  thee 
am  he."  The  Jewish  expositors  are  generally  agreed 
that  the  text  has  reference  to  the*  Saviour. 

Their  quibble  about  the  word  which  we  render  until, 
but  discovers  their  weakness  and  their  obstinacy.  It  is 
compounded  of  two  particles,  one  they  render  forever 
and  the  other  because,  and  read  the  text  thus  :  "  The 
sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  law-giver 
from  between  his  feet  forever,  because  Shiloh  shall  come." 
But  beside  that  this  construction  is  forced,  it  would  not 
comport  whith  facts,  which  they  must  all  acknowledge. 
For  while  they  generally  deny  that  the  Messiah  has 
come,  they  will  not  deny  that  now  the  sceptre  has  de 
parted  from  Judah.  Some  of  them  have  been  so  cramp- 
ed on  this  subject  as  to  adopt  the  absurdity  that  the 
Messiah  has  come,  but  keeps  himself  hidden  because  of 
their  wickedness.  Thus  men  will  make  the  word  of 
God  to  mean  any  thing  rather  than  not  support  their 


THE    INDEX  SURE.  161 

favourite  scheme  ;  and  when  the  text  proves  too  ob- 
stinate to  be  resisted,  will  adopt  the  most  improbable 
conjectures  to  prop  the  fabric  of  falsehood.  But  error 
is  forever  thus  changeable  and  uncertain.  Like  the 
fabled  isle  of  Delos  it  forever  fluctuates,  nor  can  men  or 
devils  give  it  permanent  location.  If  one  would  be 
entirely  certain  that  modern  Unitarianism  has  no  foun- 
dation in  truth,  he  has  only  to  compare  the  shifts  of  its 
advocates,  with  the  endlessly  varying  conjectures  of  the 
Jews  since  the  death  of  Christ,  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
conviction  that  he  has  already  come  and  set  up  his 
kingdom.  In  either  community  they  hold  you  in  sus- 
pense forever.  When  they  should  inform  what  the  text 
does  mean,  they  only  bewilder  you  with  illusions,  and  brow 
beat  you  with  assertions  of  what  it  cannot  mean,  and  must 
not  mean,  and  finally,  if  they  would  be  honest,  what  it 
shall  not  mean.  Nothing  but  truth  is  plain  and  consistent : 
error  is  inconsistent,  not  only  with  truth  but  wTith  itself. 

I.  Is  it  then  a  fact  that  there  continued  to  be  a  sceptre 
and  a  law-giver  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  down  to  the  time 
of  the  Saviour?  On  this  point  a  little  inquiry  will 
give,  it  is  presumed,  entire  satisfaction.  Down  to  the 
captivity  there  will  be  no  doubt.  And  if  during  that  period 
there  should  seem  to  have  been  a  suspension  of  Judah's 
authority,  still  it  is  a  fact  that  there  was  no  transfer  of 
authority  to  any  other  tribe.  And  if  for  that  short  space 
we  could  see  no  remains  of  authority,  it  should  not  be 
considered  as  nullifying  the  prediction.  Seventy  years, 
in  a  period  so  long  as  that  which  intervened  between 
the  delivery  of  this  prediction  and  the  coming  of  Christ, 
would  be  too  insignificant  to  be  excepted  in  a  general 
prophecy.  But  the  fact  seems  to  be,  that  the  tribe  of 
Judah  did  hold  its  ascendency  even  during  the  period 
of  their  dispersion.     We  are  assured  that  the  king  of 


162  THE    INDEX    SURE. 

Babylon  took  from  prison,  and  treated  with  marked  kind- 
ness, Jehoiachin,  king  of  Judah,  thirty-seven  years  after 
his  captivity ;  and  it  is  said  that  he  set  his  throne  above 
the  throne  of  the  kings  that  were  in  Babylon  :  and 
Jehoiachin  we  know  was  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Thus 
the  sceptre  did  not  depart,  even  when  that  tribe  had  its 
residence  in  a  strange  land.  Daniel  too,  we  know,  was 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  was  made  governor  over  the 
whole  province  of  Babylon,  and  of  course  over  the 
children  of  the  captivity.  And  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt 
but  that  the  Jewisii  writers  assert  the  truth  when  they 
assure  us  that  the  successive  governors  of  the  exiled  Jews, 
continued  to  be  selected  from  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  the 
house  of  David.  So  Zorobabel  and  Nehemiah  are  both 
said  to  have  been  of  the  tribe  of  Judah. 

And  when  afterward  the  civil  power  was  vested  prin- 
cipally in  the  Sanhedrim,  still  the  sceptre  must  doubtless 
be  considered  as  remaining  in  the  tribe  of  Judah.  That 
the  Sanhedrim  had  very  great  power  there  will  be  no 
question.  That  council  was  instituted  by  the  Lord  him- 
self, an  account  of  which  we  have  in  the  eleventh  chap- 
ter of  Numbers.  And  they  were  not  dispersed  nor  wholly 
disrobed  of  power  up  to  the  time  when  they  sat  in  judg- 
ment on  the  Son  of  God.  From  the  close  of  the  captivity 
to  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  this  body  continued  to 
be  the  great  council  of  the  nation.  At  first  they  were  to 
be  chosen  from  all  the  tribes,  but  after  their  return  from 
Babylon,  they  were  principally  of  the  house  of  Judah, 
though  occasionally  of  Levi  and  of  Benjamin.  But  these  two 
tribes  were  amalgamated  with,  and  as  it  were,  lost  in  the 
tribes  of  Judah,  and  whatever  they  might  do  was  done 
by  virtue  of  authority  derived  from  the  tribe  with  which 
they  had  become  incorporated.  Hence  the  sceptre  did 
not  depart. 


THE    INDEX    SURE.  163 

Even  when  the  Romans  appointed  them  a  king-,  still 
the  Sanhedrim  had  large  powers.  Even  Herod  the  Great 
was  tried  for  his  life  before  that  court.  If  it  should  be 
said  that  their  authority  was  in  a  great  measure  neutra- 
lized, when  Judea  became  a  Roman  province,  and  an 
Idumeean  was  constituted  their  Sovereign,  still  it  was 
not  wholly  destroyed.  They  long  contended  with  Herod 
about  the  supreme  authority,  nor  could  they  be  prevail- 
ed upon  to  take  the  oath  of  loyalty  till  after  the  birth  of 
the  Saviour.  At  the  time  of  his  arrest  we  find  them  still 
embodied,  and  sitting-  to  hear  evidence  and  pass  judg- 
ment upon  him  who  had  come  to  be  their  king.  True, 
they  had  lost  the  power,  as  we  term  it,  of  life  and  death, 
and  might  not  proceed  to  the  crucifixion  till  they  had  ob- 
tained the  assent  of  Pilate.  But  although  their  power  was 
evidently  languishing  it  did  not  expire  till  Titus  demo- 
lished the  sanctuary. 

II.  Our  next  inquiry  is,  whether  from  that  period  all 
authority  did  cease  from  the  tribe  of  Judah.  If  this  shall 
appear,  then  are  we  certain  that  the  promised  Shiloh  has 
come.  And  whether  in  that  case  he  be  the  Messiah,  or 
some  other  personage,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt.  That 
the  tribe  of  Judah  did  actually  lose  all  authority  at  that 
time,  and  has  never  recovered  it,  there  cannot  be  a 
question.  That  tribe  has  never  had  since  then  any 
distinct  existence.  No  descendant  of  Abraham  will  now 
pretend  to  tell  you  to  which  tribe  he  belongs.  He  may 
assure  you  that  when  the  Messiah  comes  he  will  restore 
them  to  their  respective  tribes,  but  till  then  they  remain 
by  their  own  confession  an  undistinguished  mass  of 
Israelites.  And  there  is  no  sceptre  or  law-giver  among 
them.  This  will  be  acknowledged  by  every  man  who 
has  any  common  acquaintance  with  history. 


164  THE    INDEX    SURE. 

Their  condition  is  exactly  the  opposite  of  all  that  can 
be  termed  rule  or  authority.  They  are  scattered  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth  ;  have  scarcely  any  of  them  a 
fixed  habitation,  and  none  of  them  the  least  shade  of 
authority.  There  is  hardly  a  kingdom  in  the  world, 
where  they  have  not  been  excluded,  not  merely  from 
any  share  in  the  national  government,  but  even  from 
the  common  rights  of  citizenship. 

The  woes  that  Moses  predicted,  have  fallen  upon 
them,  and  they  are  cursed  in  the  city  and  cursed  in 
the  field ;  cursed  in  their  basket  and  in  their  store  ; 
cursed  in  their  children  and  in  the  fruit  of  their  land  ; 
cursed  when  they  go  out  and  when  they  come  in  ;  and 
in  all  that  they  set  their  hand  unto  for  to  do. 

They  have  planted  vineyards,  and  another  has  gathered 
the  grapes.  They  have  become  an  astonishment,  a  proverb, 
and  a  by- word.  They  have  served  their  enemies  in  hunger, 
and  thirst,  and  nakedness,  and  have  worn  upon  their 
neck  a  yoke  of  iron.  They  have  sodden  and  subsisted 
upon  their  own  children.  Their  plagues  and  their  sick- 
nesses have  been  sore  and  wonderful.  The  Lord  has 
seemed  to  rejoice  over  them  to  destroy  them,  and  bring 
them  to  nought,  and  scatter  them  among  all  nations. 
They  have  found  no  rest  to  the  sole  of  their  foot ;  have 
had  a  trembling  heart,  and  failing  eyes,  and  sorrow  of 
mind.  They  have  been  in  fear  day  and  night,  and 
have  been  sold  to  their  enemies  for  bondmen  and 
bondwomen,  till  none  would  buy  them.  Precisely  this 
has  been  their  condition  more  than  two  thousand  years. 
If  Moses  had  written  their  history  yesterday,  instead  of 
two  and  thirty  hundred  years  ago,  it  had  hardly  been 
possible  to  pen  it  more  correctly.  Hence  we  need  offer 
no  arguments  to  prove  that  the  law-giver  and  the  sceptre 
departed  from  Judah  at  the  time  predicted. 


THE    INDEX    SURE.  156 

Whatever  pretence  that  wretched  people  may  make, 
that  somewhere,  no  one  knows  where,  there  is  yet  in 
that  tribe  the  badge  of  power,  and  the  right  of  legis- 
lation ;  no  man  of  common  understanding,  and  not 
blinded  to  the  last  degree,  will  listen  for  a  moment  to 
such  desperate  arguments  in  support  of  their  obstinacy 
and  their  unbelief. 

III.  It  remains  that  we  inquire  whether  he  who  came, 
at  the  time  when  the  Jews  expected  their  Shiloh,  has  ex- 
hibited the  sign  given  of  him  in  the  text :  "  Unto  him 
shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be."  By  some  this  clause 
is  made  to  mean,  him  shall  the  people  obey,  or  to  him 
shall  the  people  hearken,  and  again,  to  him  shall  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  be  subject.  Hence  Christ  is  styled 
in  Haggai,  the  desire  of  all  nations.  Now  you  remember 
that  in  the  original  promise  made  to  Abraham,  it  was 
said,  that  in  his  seed,  by  which  is  meant  the  Redeemer, 
shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed.  Hence  the 
Shiloh  mentioned  in  the  text,  is  he  to  whom  the  Gentiles 
shall  seek,  whose  instruction  they  shall  receive,  whose 
precepts  they  shall  obey,  to  whom  they  shall  be  subject,  in 
whom  they  shall  be  blessed,  and  to  whom  they  shall 
be  gathered.  All  this  must  appear  in  him  who  shall 
answer  the  description  given  in  the  text  of  Shiloh. 

We  remember  that  very  early  in  the  gospel  history, 
while  yet  salvation  was  scarcely  offered  to  any  but  the 
Jews,  the  Gentiles  seemed  more  ready  than  they  to  be- 
come his  disciples.  It  is  true  that  a  few  churches  were 
very  early  gathered  among  the  Jews,  but  the  principal 
success  of  the  gospel  was  among  the  Gentiles.  The 
dispersion  that  took  place  on  the  death  of  Stephen, 
seconded  by  the  conversion  of  Cornelius,  soon  showed 
the  world  that  the  Jews  had  ceased  to  be  God's  people 
and  that  in  every  nation    he  that  feareth   God    and 

15 


166  THE    INDEX    SURE. 

worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of  him.  Soon  churches 
were  established  in  many  places  among  the  Gentiles,  and 
from  that  day  to  this  the  gospel  has  been  making  its  way 
through  the  nations,  and  the  people  have  been  gathered 
to  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Now  here  lies  the  proof  of  his  Messiahship,  that  the 
religion  he  taught,  and  the  means  he  used  to  propagate 
it,  should  gather  him  disciples  so  rapidly  and  so  exten- 
rively.  And  had  there  been  no  other  proof  that  he  was 
the  predicted  Shiloh,  this  one  should  have  been  sufficient 
long  since  to  convince  the  Jews  that  he  whom  they  still 
expect,  has  come.  On  the  supposition  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  was  not  the  promised  Messiah,  and  of 
course  that  no  divine  power  gives  efficacy  to  his  gos- 
pel, nothing  can  be  more  surprising  than  the  promptness 
with  which  he  gathers  disciples.  And  this  was  the  very 
sign  given,  "  to  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be." 
Now  if  any  Jews  or  Gentiles  are  not  prepared  to 
receive  him  in  the  character  of  their  Redeemer,  they 
must  account  for  the  success  of  his  gospel.  It  was  never 
propagated  with  the  sword  ;  it  asks  no  support  from 
human  power  and  human  law,  but  has  made  its  silent 
way  in  direct  opposition  to  the  powers  of  earth  and 
hell. 

The  very  nature  of  the  religion  of  Christ  renders  its 
propagation  a  proof  of  his  Messiahship.  It  can  adopt 
no  system  of  compromise  with  any  other  religion.  It 
must  be  either  rejected,  or  adopted  as  the  only  one  that 
can  bring  men  to  happiness  and  God.  The  Saviour  is 
not  to  be  worshipped  in  conjunction  with  Jupiter,  and 
Moloch,  and  Diana.  He  must  have  the  supreme  regard, 
and  every  idol  must  be  abandoned.  Hence  his  religion, 
when  it  began  its  course,  was  at  war  with  every  other,  in 
every  town  or  city  where  it  was  attempted  to  be  propaga- 


THE    INDEX    SURE.  167 

ted,  and  the  smallest  success  in  these  circumstances  must 
have  been  a  demonstration  that  its  author  was  divine. 

And  what  is  more,  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  found  the  bitterest  enmity  in  every  heart  it  at- 
tempted to  subdue.  It  demanded  on  its  first  presenta- 
tion at  the  door  of  him  it  would  redeem,  that  he  be 
radically  changed,  that  he  love  what  he  hated  and  hate 
what  he  loved.  Hence  our  Lord  would  not  deceive  his 
disciples,  but  told  them  that  he  came  not  to  send  peace 
but  a  sword.  Still  with  just  such  a  religion  as  this,  the 
Lord  Jesus  gathered  disciples,  and  continues  to  gather 
them,  while  every  native  passion  of  the  soul  is  at  war 
with  the  Saviour,  and  the  doctrines  it  is  invited  to  em- 
brace. 

The  character  of  the  Saviour,  when  presented  to  the 
people  that  were  to  be  gathered  to  him,  was  awfully  for- 
bidding. Aside  from  the  consideration  that  he  was  the 
enemy  of  all  sin  and  they  totally  depraved  ;  his  humble 
ingress,  the  meanness  of  his  parentage  and  his  birth, 
and  the  ignominy  of  his  crucifixion,  all  tended  to  render  it 
wholly  improbable  that  he  should  ever  gain  adherents, 
and  still  men  of  the  most  towering  views  became  his 
disciples,  even  some  of  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim. 

And  what  seemed  an  insurmountable  barrier,  he 
chose  as  the  instruments  who  should  propagate  his  gospel, 
men  from  the  lowest  walks  of  life,  fishermen  and  tent- 
makers.  These  were  to  go  and  plead  his  name  before 
kings  and  emperors.  Still  under  all  these  embarrassments 
the  people  were  gathered  to  him,  and  his  religion  spread 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  How  then  could  the 
Jews,  or  how  can  the  unbelievers  in  the  present  day, 
doubt  that  Jesus  was  the  promised  Shiloh,  and  that  his 
own  almighty  power  gave  efficacy  to  his  gospel. 

And  when  we  consider  again  the  state  of  the  world, 


*6°  THE    INDEX    SURE. 


how  exactly  the  opposite  of  that  religion,  unbelief  is  put 
to  still  deeper  confusion.     We  can  hardly  read  without 
a  blush,  the  account  that  Paul  gives  us  of  the  state  of 
morals  anterior  to  the  gospel,  among  the  very  men  to 
whom  it  was  published.     I  will  read  you  a  part  of  that 
description.    He  says,  «  Men  were  filled  with  all  unright- 
eousness." (Rom.  i.  29-32.)  Now  it  was  among  just  such 
beings  as  these  that  the  gospel  had  to  make  its  way. 
Such  were  the  people  that  the  Lord  Jesus  would  gather 
to  him,  or  if  he  failed,  did  not  claim  to  be  owned  as  the 
promised  Shiloh.    We  are  all  ready  to  say  that  the  Jews 
had  no  excuse  for  rejecting  their  Messiah.     But  let  us 
not  forget  that  the  light  which  thus  poured  upon  the 
page  of  prophecy,  and  pointed  out  to  the  Jews  their  Shi- 
loh so  distinctly  that  we  wonder  at  their  unbelief,  is  still 
increasing.     The  council  that  condemned  him,  and  the 
man  who  betrayed  him,  and  the  multitude  who  exulted 
in  his  agonies,  had  less  evidence  that  he  was  the  Son  of 
God  than  we  have,  and  had  a  better  excuse  for  their  un- 
belief than  we.     They  had  sufficient  light  to  condemn 
them,  but  we  have  still  more.     They  saw  his  gospel 
have  some  success,  and  weie  under  obligation  to  believe; 
we  see  it  operating  on  almost  all  nations,  and  are  under 
still  increased  obligation  to  embrace  and  love  him.  We  all 
join  to  condemn  the  Jews  for  their  unbelief,  but  it  would 
not  be  wonderful  if  we  perish  under  a  more  aggravated 
condemnation. 


SERMON     LI  I. 

THE    INDEX    SURE.— No.  II. 

Genesis  xlix.  10. 

The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  law-giver  from  between  his 

feet,  until  Shiloh  come  ;  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be. 

We  can  conceive  of  few  things  in  the  creation  in  which 
there  is  more  of  the  sublime,  than  in  a  prediction  like 
this,  given  several  thousand  years  since,  and  recorded  for 
the  successive  generations  to  read,  while  they  witness  its 
fulfilment.  There  is  seen  in  such  an  object,  concentrated 
all  that  wisdom  and  power  that  built  the  universe.  He 
who  can  predict  what  shall  be,  must  know,  as  is  said  of 
God  "  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  from  ancient 
times  the  things  that  are  not."  And  to  foretell  with  cer- 
tainty he  must  have  power  to  bring  to  pass.  It  involves, 
too,  a  divine  purpose,  by  which  all  the  events  that  are 
future  are  made  certain.  Under  a  government  where 
things  were  left  to  the  control  of  chance,  or  accident,  there 
could  be  no  such  certainty,  even  if  we  suppose  the  exist- 
ence of  a  mind  that  can  foresee  the  most  distant  tracts 
of  time.  Hence,  to  contemplate  a  subject  like  this, 
gives  to  the  mind  a  sublimity  of  elevation,  and  tends  to 
fill  it  with  adoring  thoughts  of  the  Creator.  And  still  it 
feels  its  own  littleness ;  for  where  there  is  so  much  of 
God,  all  beside  is  insignificant  and  worthless.  And 
there  are  no  contemplations  more  calculated  to  soothe  and 
comfort  the  believing  mind.     He  who  can  know  and 

15* 


170  THE  INDEX  SURE. 

predict  all  the  events  that  will  happen,  can  provide  for 
his  people  in  all  the  emergencies  into  which  they  may 
be  brought. 

In  illustrating  the  text,  in  the  former  discourse,  it  was 
my  design,  first,  to  explain  the  terms  ;  secondly,  to  show 
that  there  did  continue  a  sceptre  and  a  law-giver  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah  down  to  the  advent  of  the  Redeemer ; 
thirdly,  to  show  that  from  and  after  that  time  there  did 
cease  all  authority  and  power  in  that  branch  of  the 
house  of  Israel ;  and.  finally,  that  to  the  Lord  Jesus  the 
people  have  been  gathered,  as  it  was  predicted  they 
should  be,  to  the  promised  Shiloh.  What  remains  now 
is,  that  we  make  some  practical  use  of  the  whole.  I 
would  then 

REMARK, 

1.  The  subject  will  lead  us  to  admire  the  divine 
conduct.  Where  he  requires  faith,  there  he  accumulates 
evidence  in  such  profusion,  that  every  mind  not  decided- 
ly hostile  to  truth,  must  yield  its  assent.  He  had  prom- 
ised the  world  that  he  would  send  them  a  Redeemer ; 
hence,  when  that  Redeemer  should  come,  he  would  re- 
quire all  to  receive  him,  and  that  their  faith  might  not 
want  for  evidence,  he  poured  in  upon  the  man  Christ 
Jesus,  the  concentrated  light  of  a  thousand  ages.  And 
it  ought  to  cover  the  unbeliever  with  shame,  to  know 
that  such  was  the  precision  with  which  he  was  designat- 
ed, that  even  devils  know  him.  The  first  promise  was, 
that  he  should  be  the  seed  of  the  woman.  And  at  that 
time  it  would  have  been  of  no  use  to  have  made  the 
promise  more  definite.  At  the  time  of  the  deluge  it  was 
rendered  certain,  without  any  specific  promise,  that  the 
Saviour  must  be  of  the  family  of  Noah.  But  his  family 
soon  became  so  numerous,  that  the  believer  could  not 
know  where  to  look  for  the  promised  seed.     He  might 


THE  INDEX  SURE.  171 

be  bom  near  the  spot  where  the  ark  rested,  or  in  some 
far-distant  isle  of  the  ocean.  Hence,  God  made  choice 
of  Abraham,  and  gave  him  the  promise  that  in  his  seed 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed  ;  and  di- 
rected him  to  go  to  that  land,  where  he  would  still  farther 
limit  the  line  of  descent,  and  where  the  Saviour  should 
himself  be  born.  When  Ishmael  was  born,  Abraham 
doubtless  supposed  that  he  was  the  promised  heir,  and 
he  and  the  world  might  have  looked  for  the  Saviour  in 
his  family,  had  not  God  given  him  another  son,  and 
promised  that  in  Isaac  should  his  seed  be  called.  In  his 
family  again  the  promise  was  confirmed  to  Jacob,  and  in 
his  to  Judah,  and  in  his  to  David.  This  was  the  last 
limitation  as  to  the  line  of  descent,  and  the  time  of  the 
promise  was  now  so  nigh  that  no  farther  designation 
was  necessary.  Here,  then,  we  see  pointed  out  very  dis- 
tinctly the  family  in  which  the  Messiah  should  be 
born. 

As  to  the  time,  it  was  to  be,  according  to  the  prediction 
recorded  in  Daniel,  four  hundred  and  ninety  years  from 
the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to  restore  and 
build  Jerusalem.  It  was  to  be  while  yet  there  was  a 
sceptre  and  a  law-giver  in  Judah.* 

As  to  the  land  of  his  nativity,  this  was  marked  out 

*  The  time  of  his  coming  was  still  farther  designated  by  the  appear- 
ance of  John  the  Baptist:  "Behold,"  said  the  last  but  one  of  the  pro- 
phets, in  the  very  last  words  he  uttered,  "  Behold,  I  send  you  Elijah 
the  prophet,  before  the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the 
Lord.  And  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to  their  children,  and 
the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers,  lest  I  come  and  smite  the  earth 
with  a  curse."  And  God  himself  assures  us,  that  this  promise  of 
Elias  met  its  fulfilment  in  John.  Thus,  lest  the  precise  time  should 
not  be  recollected,  one  was  sent  before  him,  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
«'  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord  ;  make  his  paths  straight."  From 
the  multitudes  that  came  to  hear  him,  it  becomes  certain  that  John 
must  have  given  a  very  extended  notice  that  the  Messiah  was  at  hand. 


172 


THE  INDEX  SURE. 


and  consecrated  to  the  Lord  ages  beforehand,  in  the 
communications  made  to  Abraham.  But  lest  the  extent 
of  Canaan  should  still  cast  a  cloud  upon  the  promise,  the 
very  town  was  named  in  which  he  should  be  born  : — 
"  Thou  Bethlehem,  Ephratah.  though  thou  be  little 
among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he 
come  forth  unto  us  that  is  to  rule  in  Israel ;  whose  goings 
forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting." 

That  still  there  might  be  no  room  for  mistake,  the  an- 
gels came  from  heaven  to  tell  the  shepherds  that  he  was 
born,  and  to  guide  them  to  his  humble  lodgement.  To 
the  wise  men  of  the  east  there  appeared  a  star  that 
moved  before  them,  and  came  and  stood  over  the 
place  where  the  young  child  lay.  Even  the  Roman 
emperor  must  be  induced  at  that  juncture  to  make  a 
decree  that  all  the  world  should  be  taxed,  that  that  de- 
cree might  operate  to  bring  the  blessed  Mary  from  Naza- 
reth to  Bethlehem,  previously  to  the  birth  of  the  Saviour. 
Thus  wonderfully  minute  were  the  pointings  of  heaven 
to  the  infant  Redeemer. 

And  those  who  had  not  opportunity  to  visit  his  man- 
ger, might  open  the  pages  of  prophecy  and  read  there  his 
character  and  his  history,  and  rest  assured  that  he  who 
was  reported  to  have  been  born  in  Bethlehem  was  in- 
deed the  promised  Shiloh.  He  was  to  be  peculiarly  a 
man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief:  despised 
and  rejected  of  men.  He  was  to  bear  our  griefs,  and 
carry  our  sorrows ;  was  to  be  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions, and  bruised  for  our  iniquities.  When  oppress- 
ed and  afflicted  he  was  not  to  open  his  mouth.  Men 
were  to  cast  lots  for  his  vesture.  He  was  to  hang  on  a 
tree,  but  not  a  bone  of  him  was  to  be  broken.  He  was 
to  make  his  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the  rich  in 
his  death.     It  was  even  predicted,  that  men  should  buy 


THE  INDEX  SURE.  173>, 

the  potter's  field  with  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  price 
at  which  he  was  valued.  After  all  this  minuteness  of 
prediction,  how  impossible  does  it  seem  that  any  one 
should  doubt  whether  he  were  the  promised  Messiah. 
And  how  must  we  admire  the  divine  conduct  and  good- 
ness in  thus  giving  us  many  signs,  when,  if  he  had 
given  us  but  one,  he  might  have  condemned  us  if  we 
had  not  believed.  It  would  seem  that  it  must  have  been 
the  purpose  of  God,  that  no  nation  or  individual  then  or 
since,  should  be  able  to  resist  the  flood  of  light  that  then 
poured  in  upon  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  in  every  inch 
of  his  way  from  the  manger  to  the  tomb.  Had  his  name 
been  written  the  instant  he  appeared,  on  the  disk  of 
every  star ;  had  the  finger  of  a  man's  hand  appeared  in- 
stantly in  every  quarter  of  the  heavens,  pointing  to  the 
immortalized  manger  ;  or  had  a  voice  said  in  every  ear 
all  that  was  told  the  watchful  shepherds,  the  evidence 
of  the  ingress  of  the  Son  of  God  would  hardly  have  been 
more  complete. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  all  these  intimations  re- 
specting the  coming  Redeemer,  had  been  written  in  a 
book,  and  lodged  in  the  temple  of  God,  and  read  in  the 
synagogues  throughout  all  the  holy  land,  every  Sabbath 
day  for  many  hundred  years  ;  and  we  can  hardly  be- 
lieve that  the  report  had  not  penetrated  into  every  section 
of  the  globe,  where  there  was  a  sinner  to  need  an  interest 
in  the  Redeemer's  blood. 

2.  How  provoking  must  it  be  to  God,  when,  after  all 
this,  men  reject  his  Son.  To  all  who  lived  in  Palestine, 
all  will  agree  that  the  sin  of  unbelief  was  enormous. 
They  were  in  the  very  spot  where  all  this  light  concen- 
trated. They  had  read  the  prophecies — had  seen  the 
signs — had  beheld  the  events  of  Providence  shaping 
themselves  to  his  approach,  and  probably  found  it  im- 


174 


THE  INDEX  SURE. 


possible  not  to  know  that  the  set  time  was  come.  Hence 
on  them  we  should  expect  that  there  would  fall  a  peculiar 
condemnation.  And  on  them  it  did  fall,  and  has  rested 
on  their  children's  children  down  to  this  very  hour.  The 
land  itself  has  been  given  to  desolation,  and  has  withered 
under  the  curse  ever  since.  It  has  become  a  hissing,  a 
by-word,  and  a  proverb.  Its  hills  have  lost  their  fertility, 
its  fountains  have  been  polluted,  and  its  vines  have  with- 
ered. 

But  if  we  suppose  that  none  are  guilty  for  rejecting 
the  Saviour  but  the  Jews,  we  are  as  blind  as  they. 
There  did  shine,  it  is  true,  upon  that  generation  who  re- 
jected him,  a  peculiar  light,  but  the  present  generation  of 
that  people  have  far  less  light  than  the  impenitent  of  this 
age,  and  are  less  guilty.  When  they  contemptuously 
spit  upon  the  ground  at  the  mention  of  the  name  of  Jesus, 
they  despise  an  unknown  Redeemer,  in  imitation  of  the 
impiety  of  their  ancestors.  They  are  virtually  heathen, 
and  many  of  them  have  no  more  idea  of  God,  or  a  futu- 
rity, than  the  idolaters  of  interior  India.  But  the  Bible 
and  a  preached  gospel  have  poured  upon  every  Christian 
land  all  the  light  that  shone  upon  Judea,  and  more  still. 
We  have  more  convincing  light  than  Herod  had,  that 
the  Saviour  was  born  in  Bethlehem  during  his  reign ; 
and  more  than  Judas  had  that  he  whom  Judas  betrayed 
was  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  more  than  Pilate  had,  that 
he  whom  Pilate  condemned  will  one  day  be  Pilate's 
judge.  In  addition  to  the  light  they  had,  we  have  seen 
the  gospel  conquering  the  world  in  his  name.  We  have 
seen  the  sturdiest  ruffians  bowed  and  tamed  at  his  feet. 
We  have  seen  accomplished  many  a  prediction  that  he 
uttered,  many  a  wo  that  he  issued,  many  a  curse  that 
he  threatened,  and  many  a  promise  that  dropped  from 
his  lips.     Luminous  as  was  the  light  that  gathered  about 


THE  INDEX  SURE.  175 

the  Babe  of  Bethlehem,  there  have  been  pouring  in  ten 
thousand  other  streams  ever  since.  Hence  let  no  sinner 
conceive,  that  although  it  be  nineteen  centuries  since  the 
Saviour  died,  there  can  be  for  him  any  escape  from 
death,  unless  he  be  washed  in  that  Saviour's  blood.  If 
he  who  drove  the  nails  was  cursed  if  he  did  not  believe, 
he  who  now  crucifies  him  afresh,  and  puts  him  to  open 
shame,  will  meet  a  curse  no  lighter.  No,  it  remains  still 
a  crime  black  as  perdition  to  bar  the  avenues  of  the  heart 
against  the  faith  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  There  is  not  a  man 
to-day  in  Christendom,  nor  a  lad,  nor  a  child,  that  has 
learned  who  the  Redeemer  is,  if  he  reject  him  to-day, 
who  will  not  carry  home  with  him  guilt  enough,  if  he 
dies  unpardoned,  to  make  him  gnash  his  teeth  forever. 
Had  no  Saviour  been  offered,  you  would  only  have  had 
to  answer  for  a  broken  law,  but  as  many  of  you  as  are 
unsanctified  have  upon  you  the  guilt  and  the  curse  of 
having  slighted  ten  thousand  overtures  of  forgiveness. 
And  if  you  dare  to  die  in  this  condition,  you  can  make 
the  sad  experiment,  but  your  grave  will  prove  an  avenue 
to  the  bottomless  pit. 

3.  In  view  of  this  subject  it  seems  no  light  matter  to 
deny  the  deity  of  the  Son  of  God.  How  fearfully  were 
the  Jews  destroyed  because  they  would  not  recognize 
him  as  the  promised  Shiloh.  When  once  the  edict  had 
gone  out,  "  Let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him,"  and 
God  will  not  give  his  glory  to  another,  the  being  that 
will  not  obey  must  perish.  He  is  either  God  or  a  crea- 
ture. But  have  we  credulity  enough  to  believe  that  there 
would  have  been  all  this  display  of  prophecy  and  mira- 
cle, pointing  to  the  birth  of  a  worm  ?  Must  he  be  prom- 
ised and  proclaimed  many  thousand  years ;  must  there 
be  a  record  made  of  his  character  while  yet  he  has  none  ? 
Must  he  make  his  ingress  in  the  centre  of  the  world,  and 


176  THE  INDEX  SURE. 

in  the  most  luminous  spot  among  the  nations  ?  Must  a 
long  train  of  prophets  vie  with  each  other  in  doing  hon- 
our to  the  mysterious  personage  ;  and  when  he  is  born, 
be  but  the  being  of  a  day  ?     We  have  heard  of 

"  Ocean  into  tempest  wrought, 

To  waft  a  feather — or  to  drown  a  fly," 

But  there  are  few  who  will  impute  to  God  such  folly. 
But  how  like  this  must  appear,  to  him  who  believes  the 
Messiah  was  a  mere  creature — all  that  train  of  prophe- 
cies, that  hyperbole  of  language,  and  that  pomp  of  figure 
that  centred  in  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem  ?  Judas,  it  seems, 
had  he  been  appointed  to  the  work,  would  have  been  as 
good  and  as  glorious  a  Redeemer  as  Jesus  ;  and  still  his 
advent  must  be  predicted  it  seems  four  thousand  years  be- 
fore his  birth,  and  heaven  must  tell  all  the  generations 
between  that  he  is  coming,  and  they  must  think  of  him 
in  their  loftiest  thoughts,  and  speak  of  him  as  heaven 
does  in  their  sublimest  language  ;  must  calculate  to  owe 
to  him  their  whole  redemption,  and  still  he  has  not  power 
when  he  has  laid  down  his  life  to  take  it  up  again.  He  in- 
debted to  another  for  his  own  existence,  but  we  must 
trust  in  him  for  eternal  life  ;  he  our  shield,  and  still  he 
has  no  power  of  his  own  to  protect;  he  our  guide,  but 
another  must  enlighten  and  guide  him  ;  he  our  inter- 
cessor, and  still  he  cannot  know  when  we  pray  ;  he  our 
king,  and  still  he  himself  the  subject  of  a  higher  and  a 
mightier  power;  he  pledged  to  be  with  his  people 
always,  even  unto  the  ends  of  the  world,  while  yet  he 
could  not  know  that  he  should  be  permitted  to  see  them 
when  they  suffer,  or  be  present  to  save. 

If  there  is  a  scheme,  which,  rather  than  any  other 
charges  God  foolishly,  makes  the  plainest  truth  a  mys- 
tery, and  the  whole  Bible  a  bundle  of  absurdities,  and 


the  index'  sure.  177 

proudly  conducts  all  its  votaries  to  death,  it  is  that  which 
thus  quenches  the  light  of  Israel.  Must  I  choose  be- 
tween it  and  open  infidelity,  I  would  be  an  infidel.  By 
the  same  dash  with  which  I  blot  the  name  of  the  Re- 
deemer, I  would  obliterate  the  Father,  and  believe  the 
grave  the  end  of  me.  I  would  not  waste  my  time  and 
strength,  and  torture  my  conscience,  to  mutilate  the  Book 
of  God,  but  would  believe  the  whole  a  lie,  and  warm 
myself  in  its  blaze,  and  wish  I  were  a  brute.  Then  I 
would  calmly  expect  one  day  to  be  a  supper  for  the 
worms,  free  from  the  dread  of  the  worm  that  shall  never 
die  Men  must  be  desperately  the  foes  of  truth,  and  in- 
veterately  hostile  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  before  they  can  thus 
rudely  confront  the  plainest  truths  of  God ;  and  the 
crime,  where  there  is  not  gross  ignorance,  must  come 
very  near  to  that  wrhich  cannot  be  forgiven.  To  avoid 
one  mystery  which  they  cannot  comprehend,  they  would 
throw  afloat  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  make  us  doubt  whe- 
ther any  part  of  it  has  come  to  us  uncorrupted,  and 
finally  must  adopt  mysteries  greater  than  the  one  they 
discard,  must  believe  that  God  has  indited  us  a  revela- 
tion which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  understand,  and  that 
he  has  suffered  almost  his  whole  Church  to  live  in  the 
belief  of  a  lie  these  eighteen  hundred  years. 

4.  This  subject  should  lead  us  to  pray  earnestly  for 
the  unhappy  descendants  of  Abraham.  We  are  indebt- 
ed to  them,  under  God,  for  the  privileges  we  enjoy,  but 
which  they  have  forfeited.  The  Lord  Jesus,  in  his 
human  nature,  belonged  to  that  family.  The  apostles 
through  whom  we  have  the  Scriptures,  and  the  know- 
ledge of  eternal  life,  were  Jewish  converts.  But  how  dis- 
tressing to  us,  that  that  whole  community  should  still 
reject  their  promised  Shiloh,  and  be  seen  writhing  these 
two  thousand  years   under  the  lashes   of  a  vindictive 

16 


178  THE    INDEX    SURE. 

Providence  !  It  should  excite  our  pity  to  know  that  they 
are  a  standing  testimony  of  the  truth  of  prophecy.  They 
are  placed  as  a  beacon  on  the  shore  of  death  to  warn  us 
not  to  approach  the  strand  where  they  were  so  awfully 
shipwrecked.  Their  unbelief  has  confirmed  us  in  the 
faith,  and  it  should  be  our  grief  that  they  should  perish. 
When  the  time  has  come,  and  it  seems  now  at  hand, 
when  they  shall  own  him  that  has  come,  their  conversion 
shall  be  as  life  from  the  dead  to  the  Gentiles. 

Hence  gratitude  for  the  blessings  we  have  received 
through  their  hands,  and  love  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
which  will  be  greatly  advanced  by  their  in-gathering, 
and  pity  for  the  suffering  posterity  of  him  who  was  the 
father  of  the  faithful,  should  all  join  their  influence  to 
induce  us  to  pray  for  a  people  so  interesting  and  so  un- 
done. Every  endearing  view  we  have  of  Christ  should 
lead  us  to  pray  for  his  brethren  and  kinsmen  according 
to  the  flesh ;  and  whenever  we  see  by  faith  the  scenes 
of  Calvary,  there  should  go  up  some  petition  for  the  de- 
scendants of  those  who  were  active  in  the  crucifixion,  and 
coveted  that  the  blood  of  the  Saviour  should  be  on  them 
and  their  children.  On  that  propitiatory  sacrifice  we 
hang  our  hopes  of  heaven,  and  should  rejoice  can  we  be 
the  means  of  bringing  down  upon  thejdescendants  of  his 
betrayers  and  murderers,  any  heavenly  blessings,  or  of 
removing  the  curse  under  which  they  have  so  long  pined 
and  perished. 

And  if  their  case  should  demand  something  more 
than  prayers — should  require  sacrifices — can  we  better 
expend  the  talents  that  God  has  loaned  us  than  in  the 
purchase  of  their  redemption  ?  It  is  high  time  that  we 
placed  in  their  hands  the  Hebrew  Testament,  that  they 
may  know  the  character  of  the  Saviour  they  have  re- 
jected, and  may  see  and  lament  the  cause  of  their  long 


THE    INDEX    SURE.  179 

continued  dispersion.  Gratitude  for  the  gift  of  a  Saviour 
through  the  line  of  Abraham,  and  for  the  Holy  Scriptures 
through  Jewish  Apostles,  should  urge  us  to  make  exer- 
tions for  their  rescue  from  the  thraldom  of  unbelief* 
They  would  join  us  in  adoring  the  Saviour,  and  rejoice 
with  us  in  the  covenants  of  promise,  and  we  could  feel 
pleasure  forever,  in  having  contributed  to  rescue  them 
from  the  dominions  of  death. 

Happily  the  time  has  come,  when  they  begin  to  doubt 
whether  they  may  not  look  for  their  Shiloh  till  their  eyes 
consume  away  in  their  holes,  unless  they  build  their 
hopes  of  eternal  life  on  him  who  has  come.  Numbers 
of  them  have  made  their  escape  from  death,  and  others 
are  inquiring  with  a  candour  and  a  docility,  as  new  as 
it  is  interesting,  "  Where  is  the  angel  of  the  covenant  V 

Finally,  may  we  not  fear,  that  if  we  reject  the 
Saviour,  there  may  be  found  in  our  families  a  race  of 
unbelievers,  that  may  go.  generation  after  generation, 
down  to  the  blackness  of  darkness  forever.  How  can 
we  know  that  some  families  that  we  can  name,  in  whom 
we  see  not  a  believer  from  age  to  age,  have  inherited 
from  some  ungodly  ancestor,  a  ruin  like  that  which  fell 
upon  the  family  of  Israel.  Poverty,  and  crime,  and  de- 
gradation, are  the  prominent  features  of  their  condition. 
Ah,  let  us  beware,  lest  our  children's  children  shall  be 
telling  the  world  some  hundred  years  hence,  the  tale  of 
our  unbelief  and  impenitence. 


SERMON    LI  1 1. 

THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 


Deuteronomy,  xxxii.  29. 

O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider 
their  latter  end. 


Moses  had  been  speaking  of  the  kindness  of  God  to 
his  people.  He  found  them  in  a  desert  land,  and  in  a 
waste  howling  wilderness.  He  led  them  about,  he  in- 
structed them,  he  kept  them  as  the  apple  of  his  eye.  By 
a  spirit  of  prophecy  he  looked  forward,  and  saw  them  en- 
ter in  triumph  the  land  of  promise,  there  to  eat  of  the 
increase  of  the  field,  to  suck  honey  out  of  the  rock,  and 
drink  the  pure  blood  of  the  grape.  And  here  he  would 
gladly  have  limited  his  prophetic  view,  and  would  have 
died  believing  that  the  people  he  loved,  would  remain  the 
heirs  of  that  goodly  land  till  the  consummation  of  all 
things,  and  be  to  the  latest  ages  the  chosen  inheritance 
of  heaven.  But  the  same  prophetic  Spirit  which  had 
made  him  acquainted  with  one  future  page  of  their  his- 
tory, penetrated  the  tracts  of  time,  that  stretched  still 
beyond,  and  unfolded  to  his  inspired  vision,  a  page  still 
beyond,  darkened  and  dismal  with  crimes  and  punish- 
ments. Here  he  paused  to  lament,  that  they  would  so 
sin  against  their  own  souls,  that  they  would  not  feel  in 
time  that  they  had  to  deal  with  a  jealous  God,  who 


THE  WISE  MAN    WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  181 

would  not  give  his  glory  to  another,  and  in  the  language 
of  the  text  pours  out  the  honest  and  tender  feelings  of  his 
heart,  "  O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood 
this,  that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end."  This 
would  avert  the  doom  I  foresee,  and  secure  them  a  per- 
petual title  to  the  fields  of  promise. 

But  the  text  will  bear  a  more  extended  application.  It 
is  as  true  of  us  all  as  it  was  of  Israel,  that  we  contemplate 
too  little  the  scenes  of  futurity,  and  fasten  the  eye  too 
exclusively  on  the  life  that  now  is.  This  world  is  too 
much  our  home  ;  its  cares  occupy  too  exclusively  our 
attention ;  and  its  treasures  claim  too  high  a  place 
among  the  instruments  of  our  joy.  We  are  pilgrims  at 
the  best,  who  have  here  no  abiding  city,  but  seek  one  to 
come,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  That  man  is 
a  beggar  and  a  wretch,  who  extends  not  his  views  to 
another  life,  and  has  no  prospects  of  enjoyment  in  a 
better  world.  The  concerns  of  this  life  are  too  small  to 
engross  the  energies  of  an  immortal  mind.  When  I  feel 
myself  allured  by  its  charms,  and  when  I  see  so  many  of 
my  poor  dying  neighbours  engrossed  exclusively  in  these 
sublunary  scenes,  1  feel  that  we  have  a  mean  and  poor 
employment.  And  I  have  chosen  this  text,  rather  than 
many  a  one,  which,  on  some  accounts,  would  have  been 
more  appropriate,  because  I  wish  to  warn  myself,  and 
the  neighbourhood  in  which  1  live,  and  the  people  to 
whom  I  minister,  and  every  stranger  who  may  be  pre- 
sent, that  this  world  is  not  our  home,  nor  our  rest,  that 
there  awaits  us  a  dying  bed,  and  a  lonely  grave,  and 
perhaps  a  sudden  transit  into  the  presence  of  the  holy 
and  heart-searching  God.  We  are  forming  a  character 
for  another  state,  and  have  forgotten  our  only  errand 
into  life,  if  any  other  cares  crowd  us  so  closely,  or  en- 
gross us  so  exclusively,  as  the  one  care  of  adorning  the 

16* 


182  THE  "WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR    FUTURITY. 

soul  for  its  speedy  appearance  at  the  banquet  of  the 
Lamb.  This  is  the  concern  that  should  direct  our 
dreams,  wake  our  slumbers,  bring  us  early  to  our  knees, 
and  go  with  us  and  keep  its  hold  upon  our  thoughts,  our 
affections,  and  our  lips,  through  all  the  hours  of  light, 
through  the  social  converse  of  our  evenings,  and  the  sa- 
cred worship  of  our  Sabbaths.  Why  can  we  not  move 
about  among  the  cares  of  this  life,  and  still  keep  firmly 
our  hold  upon  a  better. 

If  we  think  often  of  death  we  shall  die  no  sooner, 
and  if  we  often  talk  of  the  life  to  come,  we  shall  be 
called  none  the  sooner  to  part  with  the  life  that  now 
is.  If  we  mingle  the  cares  of  another  world  with  those 
of  the  present,  we  need  not  neglect  to  make  all  necessary 
provision  for  the  body.  Nor  need  these  thoughts  and 
cares  embitter  our  present  enjoyments.  Who  has  heav- 
en's permission  to  be  happy  but  the  believer,  the  man 
whose  heavenly  mind  can  see  a  substance,  and  taste  a 
sweetness  in  the  things  unseen,  who  can  even  here  in- 
hale a  fragrance  from  the  flowers  of  paradise,  and  realize 
a  treasure  deposited  where  moth  and  rust  cannot  corrupt) 
and  where  thieves  cannot  break  through  and  steal ! 
Tell  me  not  of  men  being  happy  whose  all  is  in  the 
present  life,  and  who  are  tormented  if  they  chance  to 
think  of  death ;  it  is  all  false.  They  may  be  stupid, 
and  so  is  a  worm,  but  who  ever  dreamed  that  a  thought- 
less man  was  happy  ?  He  may  be  free  from  sensible 
misery,  snd  so  is  the  ox,  but  one  who  claims  that  he  is 
a  man,  and  glories  in  being  capable  of  thought,  is  not 
happy  when  he  does  not  think.  Cast  forward  the  eye 
of  faith  and  read  the  future  pages  of  your  history,  and  if 
you  cannot  read  them  and  still  be  happy,  then  I  would  bid 
joy  adieu  for  ever.  Think  of  a  death-bed,  of  the  shroud 
you  shall  wear,  the  coffin  that  shall  house  you,  the  grave 


THE  WISE  MAN  WISE   FOR  FUTURITY.  183 

you  shall  occupy,  the  procession  that  shall  escort  you  to 
the  bleak  and  cheerless  cemetery,  the  vacuum  that  shall 
be  seen  in  your  dwelling,  the  widow  that  shall  weep  for 
you,  and  the  children  that  shall  bury  their  best  hopes  in 
your  sepulchre,  and  return  to  weep  over  their  untimely 
orphanage:— think,  too,  where  you  shall  then  be,  in 
what  world,  in  what  society,  how  employed — and  if  you 
cannot  think  it  all  over  and  be  happy,  your  condition  is 
most  pitiable.  What !  do  you  boast  of  having  the  pow- 
ers of  thought,  and  dare  not  think  !  Glad  that  you  are 
not  a  thoughtless  beast,  and  yet  must  become  thoughtless 
as  a  beast,  or  be  miserable  !  Then  your  fancied  distinc- 
tions are  all  a  dream,  and  can  do  you  no  honour.  My 
intention  is  to  turn  your  minds  upon  the  scene  of  death, 
and  by  this  means  to  try  your  religion,  and  my  own.  If 
we  can  converse  with  the  scenes  of  death  and  be  happy, 
it  will  be  one  small  evidence  in  our  favour.  True  wis- 
dom will  lead  us  to  consider  our  latter  end.  /  shall 
notice  some  circumstances  of  our  latter  end  which  it 
becomes  us  to  consider,  and  then  show  that  to  consider 
these  things  is  to  act  wisely. 

I  am  to  notice  some  circumstances  of  our  latter  end, 
which  it  becomes  us  to  consider. 

I.  Death  will  part  asunder  the  body  and  the  soul. 
They  are  dear  and  affectionate  companions,  and  are  to 
each  other  a  source  of  pleasure  and  of  pain.  There  is 
between  them  an  indescribable  power  of  endearing  sym- 
pathy. But  in  death  they  part.  The  body,  cold  and 
inanimate,  is  thrown  upon  the  care  of  men,  while  the 
spirit  returns  to  God  who  gave  it.  What  remains  with 
us  is  the  merest  clay,  while  that  which  we  loved  and 
caressed  is  gone.  That  lifeless  body  is  not  the  son,  the 
husband,  the  father,  the  neighbour,  and  the  friend,  we 
loved.  But  it  is  all  that  we  could  ever  see  or  touch,  wrhile 


184  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

that  essential  and  immortal  part  which  has  fled,  was 
untangible  and  invisible.  This  change  you  and  I  must 
soon  pass.  This  body  must  moulder,  and  this  spirit  be 
summoned  away,  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  its  judge. 

To  properly  consider  this  matter  is  to  see  to  it  that  the 
body  and  the  soul  while  they  continue  associates,  be  mu- 
tual helpmates  to  each  other.  The  indulgence  of  the 
appetites  and  passions  must  not  be  permitted  to  ruin  the 
soul,  nor  the  mind  be  employed  to  destroy  the  body. 
They  are  to  to  be  reunited  in  the  resurrection,  and  must 
be  forever  happy  or  wretched  together.  Hence  let  the 
soul,  while  the  present  union  continues,  be  purified  by 
the  blood  of  sprinkling,  and  the  body  rendered  a  meet 
temple  for  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  thus  the  kindred  parts 
may  exert  upon  each  other,  a  mutually  kind  and  purify- 
ing influence.  Then  after  the  sleep  of  the  grave,  there 
may  be  a  union  more  happy  than  the  first,  more  indisso- 
luble and  eternal. 

2.  Death  will  dissolve  all  our  earthly  ties.  The  vari- 
ous and  endearing  relationships  of  life  are  all  temporary. 
The  husband  and  the  wife,  whose  union  is  the  most 
endearing  of  all  others,  are  obligated  to  love  and  cherish 
each  other  only  till  death.  Then  the  tie  is  broken,  and 
the  obligation  discharged.  The  lifeless  corpse  is  no 
longer  a  husband,  a  father,  a  neighbour,  a  friend.  That 
essential  part,  on  whose  account  the  relationship  was 
formed,  has  fled.  And  "  in  the  resurrection,  they  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are"  in  this  re- 
spect, "as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven." 

To  give  this  subject  its  proper  consideration,  requires 
that  we  so  discharge  the  various  obligations  that  result 
from  these  relationships,  as  to  meet  their  grand  and 
heavenly  design.  The  husband  and  the  wife  should 
endeavour  to  promote  each  other's  sanctification,  should 


THE    WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  185 

exert  all  the  influence  that  the  endearing  relationship 
generates,  to  produce  in  each  other  an  entire  conformity 
to  God,  and  thus  prepare  each  other  to  be  happy  in  the 
circle  of  the  blessed.  The  few  days  that  we  can  do  each 
other  good,  urges  to  the  utmost  despatch  in  every  benevo- 
lent design.  Parents  should  admonish  and  pray  for  their 
poor  dying  children,  from  whom,  in  a  few  days,  they 
must  be  torn  forever,  and  children  be  a  blessing  to  their 
parents  while  they  are  within  reach  of  their  kindness. 
The  brother  and  sister  sustain  that  relationship  but  for  a 
few  days,  and  must  do  each  other  all  the  good  they  ever 
do,  very  soon.  The  source  then  that  genuine  love  will 
pursue  is  very  plain.  While  my  friends  are  within  my 
reach,  I  should  be  their  enemy  did  I  not  endeavour  to 
promote  their  salvation,  and  thus  do  them  everlasting 
good. 

Alas,  how  many  pursue  a  course  precisely  the  opposite, 
and  are  doing  all  in  their  power  to  carry  their  friends  with 
them  down  to  perdition.  How  many  husbands  exert 
their  influence  to  prevent  the  piety,  and  hinder  the  pray- 
ers, and  retard  the  spiritual  improvement  of  their  bosom 
friend !  And  how  many  wives  with  the  same  treacherous 
kindness  allure  their  husbands  to  the  ways  of  death ! 
Many  a  parent,  a  son,  a  brother,  deaf  themselves  to 
the  voice  of  mercy,  are  staining  their  hands  and  their 
garment  in  the  blood  of  their  kindred.  And  beyond  a 
doubt  the  great  day  will  hear  many  a  curse  proceed  from 
the  lips  of  the  lost,  upon  their  now,  nearest,  dearest,  kin- 
dred ! — On  this  dreadful  subject  I  can  only  say,  do  good, 
and  avoid  doing  evil,  to  those  who  are  now  related  to  you, 
as  all  their  kindred  ties  will  soon  be  dissolved,  and  these 
opportunities  pass  away  forever.  We  shall  doubtless  wit- 
ness against  each  other  in  the  great  day,  and  it  must 
grieve  us,  if  we  feel  tenderly,  to  apprehend  that  our  own 


186  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

lips  may  bear  against  beloved  friends  that  testimony  on 
which  their  condemnation  may  be  founded. 

3.  Death  will  strip  us  of  all  our  titles,  and  of  that 
office,  power,  and  influence  which  they  imply.  The 
magistrate,  the  judge,  the  general,  and  the  juror,  will 
yield  his  office  with  his  life,  and  with  it  his  power  and 
his  influence.  The  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  every 
officer  in  the  Christian  church,  or  teacher  in  our  seats  of 
science,  or  the  Sabbath  school,  must  yield  his  place  to 
some  successor. 

To  properly  consider  this  matter  is  to  fill  the  office  we 
sustain  with  purity  and  activity.  If  it  gives  us  influence, 
there  is  nothing  for  which  we  are  more  accountable  ;  no 
talent  which  we  can  use  now  to  better  advantage.  If 
there  is  a  soul  brought  by  such  means  within  our  reach, 
and  we  can  bless  that  soul,  our  duty  is  plain  ;  and  our 
fearful  responsibility  incalculable.  When  by  any  means 
the  providence  of  God  enlarges  our  sphere  of  action, 
widens  the  field  of  our  labour,  or  strengthens  the  arms  of 
our  hands,  his  creatures  are  to  receive  the  benefit,  and  his 
name  is  to  have  the  praise. 

What  a  fearful  account  will  many  have  to  give,  when 
they  shall  be  put  out  of  their  stewardship  !  How  have 
they  filled  offices,  that  they  might  create  misery,  and  ex- 
erted an  influence  in  widening  and  vexing  the  horrors  of 
the  apostacy.  You  might  almost  track  them  by  the 
blood  they  spilt,  or,  to  drop  the  figure,  by  the  vices  to 
which  they  gave  an  impulse,  by  the  characters  they  pol- 
luted, by  the  poverty  and  the  tears  they  generated,  and 
by  a  long  train  of  untold  miseries  that  still  line  their  track. 
"  Who  then  is  that  faithful  and  wise  servant,  whom  his 
lord  hath  made  ruler  over  his  household,  to  give  them 
meat  in  due  season  1  Blessed  is  that  servant,  whom  his 
lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  so  doing,     Verily  I 


THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  1&7 

say  unto  you,  that  he  shall  make  him  ruler  over  all  his 
goods.  But  and  if  that  evil  servant  shall  say  in  his  heart, 
My  lord  delayeth  his  coming  ;  and  shall  begin  to  smite 
his  fellow-servants,  and  to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunk- 
en ;  the  lord  of  that  servant  shall  come  in  a  day  when 
he  looketh  not  for  him,  and  in  an  hour  that  he  is  not 
aware  of ;  and  shall  cut  him  asunder,  and  appoint  him 
his  portion  with  the  hypocrites  :  there  shall  be  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth/'  Thus  the  office  we  fill  may  be 
suddenly  vacated,  and  the  account  rendered  cover  us 
with  everlasting  shame. 

4.  Death  will  level  all  distinctions.  The  king  and 
the  peasant  will  sleep  together  in  the  grave,  the  master 
and  the  servant,  the  man  of  science  and  distinction  with 
the  untaught  and  the  vulgar.  The  family  who  can 
hardly  speak  with  patience  of  their  unpolished  neigh- 
bours, and  look  with  contempt  upon  their  rude  and  illite- 
rate servants,  must  become  a  supper  for  the  worm,  and 
must  scent  as  odiously,  and  rot  as  rapidly,  and  perhaps  be 
forgotten  about  as  soon  as  the  innocent  objects  of  their 
affected  disgust.  There  may  be  a  more  splendid  funeral. 
We  may  hear  at  the  mouth  of  the  tomb  a  more  laboured 
and  lying  panegyric  ;  and  there  may  be  erected  a  more 
splendid  and  perhaps  a  more  lasting  monument.  But  a 
few  years  will  dissolve  that  monument,  will  deface  its 
pompous  inscription,  and  the  bones  it  covers  will  appear 
as  unsightly  as  any  skeleton  within  the  enclosures  of  the 
cemetery. 

To  properly  consider  this  fact,  is  to  remember  that  it 
was  God  who  elevated  us,  and  that  views  us  as  none  the 
more  worthy  because  of  the  distinction  he  has  assigned 
us.  It  is  our  wisdom  to  be  humble  and  mindful  of  death. 
Let  us  show  the  world  that  in  our  own  eyes  we  are  small ; 
that  we  can  enter  the  cottage  of  the  peasant  familiarly  ; 


188  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

can  join  him,  if  occasion  require,  in  his  coarse  and 
homely  meal ;  can  cheerfully  bow  with  him  at  the 
throne  of  grace ;  mingle  our  counsels  and  our  tears,  in- 
sensible of  any  distinction  for  which  we  deserve  respect, 
that  we  are  not  willing  to  bestow.  We  are  forbidden  to 
be  wise  in  our  own  conceits,  and  are  exhorted  to  conde- 
scend to  men  of  low  estate.  One  distinction  only  will 
outlive  the  ravages  of  death — that  distinction  is  holi- 
ness. In  the  sight  of  God  all  others  are  temporary  and 
worthless  ;  and  if  not  counteracted  by  the  humility  of  the 
gospel,  will  cover  us  with  a  deeper  contempt,  and  subject 
us  to  a  more  degraded  infamy  in  the  bottomless  pit. 

5.  Death  will  strip  us  of  our  earthly  possessions.  The 
lifeless  corpse  is  not  the  owner  of  a  farm,  or  the  proprietor 
of  a  bond.  He  cannot  even  defend  from  the  attack  of 
the  ruffian  the  little  spot  of  earth  that  contains  his  ashes, 
and  his  bones.  The  hour  that  strips  him  of  life  ren- 
ders him  as  poor  as  at  the  hour  of  his  birth,  and  as 
dependent  for  the  shroud,  as,  originally,  for  the  swa thing- 
band. 

To  properly  consider  this  matter  is,  to  use  our  wealth 
for  the  honour  of  God,  and  in  lessening  the  miseries  of 
the  apostacy.  We  may  employ  it  to  support  and  spread 
his  gospel,  to  disseminate  his  word,  to  feed  his  poor. 
Some  object  of  benevolent  regard  is  forever  at  our  door, 
some  good  devised  that  we  may  execute,  some  cause 
labouring  that  we  may  lend  our  aid.  We  may  have 
high  ideas  of  our  own  rights,  but  we  are  all  the  Lord's 
stewards.  He  has  commanded  us  to  occupy  till  he 
come.  We  must  very  soon  go  out  of  office,  and  must 
then  give  an  account  of  our  stewardship,  and  happy  for 
us  if  we  have  made  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighte- 
ousness, that  they  may  receive  us  into  everlasting  habita- 
tions.    But  how  many,  when  they  shall  be  called  to 


THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  189 

yield  their  interest  will  find  that  their  gold  and  silver  is 
corrupted,  and  their  garments  moth  eaten.  If  they  have 
done  any  good  with  their  wealth,  it  was  by  the  merest 
accident :  they  meant  not  so,  neither  did  their  hearts 
think  so,  and  they  are  seen  to  repent  of  all  the  good  they 
have  done,  and  of  nothing  else.  They  have  fixed  a 
dying  hold  upon  their  farms  and  their  merchandises, 
and  the  day  that  breaks  that  hold  will  be  of  all  other 
days  the  most  wretched.  They  have  forgotten  their  lat- 
ter end,  and  can  be  waked  from  the  charm  only  by  that 
stroke  that  sunders  them  from  life. 

6.  As  a  distinct  thought,  I  would  suggest  that  death 
must  bring  all  our  schemes  to  a  close.  There  is  in  some 
men  a  pronenessto  cast  their  thoughts  ahead,  and  so  in- 
terweave their  projects,  that  it  would  seem  they  can  never 
find  leisure  to  lie  down  and  sleep  in  the  grave.  They  never 
calculate  upon  closing  their  concerns.  There  is  scarce- 
a  moment,  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  till  it  ends, 
that  finds  them  sufficiently  at  leisure  to  worship  God 
without  distraction.  Some  scheme  is  in  its  embryo,  and 
some  other  unfinished.  And,  finally,  many  a  one  is  but 
partially  executed,  when  death  throws  in  its  arbitrary 
and  fearful  arrest.  Then  there  must  be  a  pause :  the 
jaded  spirit  must  rest,  and  the  body  retires  with  it. 
Cheerful  or  reluctant  the  world  must  quit  its  hold,  and 
the  stream  of  thought  chill  in  its  channel. 

And  this  event  expected  should  teach  us  to  limit  our 
views,  and  to  moderate  our  hopes  and  wishes.  It  would 
be  wise  to  calculate  that  somewhere  not  very  distant  from 
us,  there  is  opened  a  grave  athwart  our  track,  where  we 
must  stop  and  rest,  and  beyond  which,  if  we  extend  cur 
schemes,  they  but  die  on  our  hands,  or  remain  for  others 
to  finish.  "  There  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  know- 
ledge, nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave  whither  we  hasten,' 

17 


190  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITl'. 

And  perhaps  nothing  would  so  tend  to  make  us  lower 
our  hopes,  and  limit  our  worldly  calculation,  as  to  place 
the  solemnities  of  our  own  funeral  at  but  a  few  months 
remove  from  us.  If  we  place  it  too  near  no  evil  could 
follow;  while,  if  too  remotely,  a  train  of  disappoint- 
ments and  miseries  follow,  the  weight  of  which  it  will 
take  a  whole  eternity  to  calculate. 

7.  Death  will  finish  our  period  of  usefulness.  "  It 
is  that  night  when  no  man  can  work."  All  the  good  we 
ever  do  must  be  soon  done,  or  is  left  undone  forever.  All 
the  good  counsel  we  ever  give,  all  the  prayers  we  ever 
make,  all  the  miseries  we  ever  relieve  ;  all  the  progress 
we  shall  ever  make  in  the  pursuit  of  truth,  and  all  the 
honour  we  shall  ever  do  to  God,  must  be  done  soon.  And 
it  seems  to  me  that  no  thought  is  so  calculated  to  wake 
us  to  industry.  "  Whatsoever  thy  hands  find  to  do,  do 
it  with  thy  might,"  is  the  very  inference  to  be  drawn  from 
the  shortness  of  time.  If  any  man  is  a  knave,  it  is  he 
who  is  willing  to  die  before  he  has  been  useful,  who  is 
willing  to  feed  upon  the  bounties  of  heaven,  to  gather 
about  him  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  lavish  them  upon 
his  own  indolence,  and  leave  God  to  publish  his  own 
praise  by  other  instruments.  Our  obligation  to  do  good 
is  as  unalienable  as  the  authority  of  God  is  binding,  or 
the  fear  of  misery  appalling,  or  the  hope  of  glory  invit- 
ing. Have  we  then  done  all  the  good  we  have  purposed 
to  do  ?  Have  we  no  dying  friends  to  whom  we  would 
communicate  instruction  or  comfort  before  they  leave  us  ? 
Is  there  no  object  of  charity  to  which  conscience  may 
have  given  some  pledge  not  yet  redeemed  1  By  the  sure 
and  speedy  approach  of  death,  we  are  admonished  to 
haste  and  finish  our  work,  lest  we  should  leave  it  for 
others  to  neglect  as  we  have. 
8.  Death  will  finish  our  character,  and  close  our  ac- 


THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FTJTURITN.  191 

counts  for  the  judgment.  We  are  probationers  for  an- 
other state,  and  our  character  here  will  decide  our  condi- 
tion there.  It  is  believed  that  life  will  furnish  the  mate- 
rials on  which  the  judgment  will  proceed,  the  varied  tests 
of  our  character,  and  the  reasons  of  our  acquittal  or  our 
condemnation.  The  thoughts  and  volitions  of  the  dying 
bed  will  constitute  the  closing  items  of  that  fearful  ac- 
count which  we  must  render  to  the  judge  of  all. 

To  give  this  thought  its  due  importance,  we  should 
often  examine  our  state,  and  inquire  if  we  are  ready  to 
be  judged.  Is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  formed  in  us  the 
hope  of  glory  ?  Shall  we  appear,  if  we  quit  the  world 
this  evening,  clothed  in  his  righteousness  ?  Else  no 
works  of  ours  will  avail  to  procure  our  acceptance,  and 
ruin  is  as  certain  as  the  judgment. 

Haste,  then,  if  you  would  be  esteemed  wise,  and  set 
your  house  in  order,  against  the  hour  of  your  dissolution. 
Mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  wake  the  mind  to  indus- 
try, and  rouse  the  heart  and  the  conscience  to  energy  of 
feeling  and  action  in  the  work  of  grace.  Collect  your 
friends  about  you,  and  make  one  more  effort  to  do  them 
good  before  every  tie  that  binds  them  to  you  is  sundered. 
Fill  the  office  assigned  you  with  fidelity,  and  use  your 
influence  to  promote  the  honour  of  your  Redeemer. 
Cultivate  a  meek  and  lowly  mind,  be  familiar  with  your 
own  worthlessness  ;  use  your  wealth  for  the  honour  of 
God,  and  in  doing  good  to  a  miserable  world.  Limit 
your  prospects  by  the  grave  :  have  your  work  done  ;  your 
character  formed  for  heaven  ;  your  sins  forgiven ;  and 
your  pollution  covered  with  a  Saviour's  blood.  Then 
death  will  not  surprise  you,  and  the  grave  will  become 
your  refuge  and  your  friend. 

II.  To  properly  consider  the  circumstances  of  our 
Latter  end  is  to  act  wisely.     If  while  we  proceed,  worldly 


192  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

men,  whose  every  interest  is  in  this  world,  should  draw 
the  inference  that  they  are  acting  unwisely,  and  play- 
ing- the  fool  with  their  own  hest  good  ;  this  is  precisely 
the  effect  we  always  wish  to  produce,  and  shall  re- 
joice to  find  that  they  can  reason  so  well  on  a  subject 
of  such  amazing  importance.  Under  every  sermon 
men  ought  to  be  convinced  that  they  are  acting  a  mad 
and  desperate  part,  while  they  neglect  all  the  hopes  of 
the  life  to  come,  and  deposit  all  their  treasures  on  the 
surface  of  this  perishing  world.  The  man  who  should 
place  all  his  fortune  in  a  burning  building,  or  embark 
with  his  whole  interest  in  a  sinking  ship,  would  not  act 
more  unwisely.     I  remark, 

1.  That  God  has  pronounced  it  wise  to  consider  our 
latter  end,  and  act  with  constant  and  careful  reference  to 
the  life  to  come.  This  is  precisely  the  sentiment  of  the 
text,  and  of  many  other  scriptures  which  pour  their 
light  upon  the  same  truth.  "  If  a  man  live  many 
years,  and  rejoice  in  them  all,  yet  let  him  remember 
the  days  of  darkness."  Said  the  Lord  to  Israel,  "  Oh 
that  thou  hadst  hearkened  to  my  commandments  !  then 
had  thy  peace  been  as  a  river,  and  thy  righteousness  as 
the  waves  of  the  sea."  How  often  is  it  said  of  the  wick- 
ed, that  although  they  were  warned  they  would  not  be 
wise.  "  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused ;  I  have  stretched 
out  my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded  ;  but  ye  have  set  at 
nought  all  my  counsel,  and  would  none  of  my  reproof;  I 
also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity  ;  I  will  mock  when  your 
fear  cometh.  When  your  fear  cometh  as  desolation, 
and  your  destruction  cometh  as  a  whirlwind  ;  when  dis- 
tress and  anguish  cometh  upon  you  :  then  shall  they 
call  upon  me,  but  I  will  not  answer ;  they  shall  seek  me 
early,  but  they  shall  not  find  me  :  For  that  they  hated 
knowledge,  and  did  not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord :  they 


THK  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  193 

would  none  of  my  counsel ;  they  despised  all  my  re- 
proof: therefore  shall  they  eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  own 
way,  and  be  filled  with  their  own  devices.  For  the 
turning  away  of  the  simple  shall  slay  them,  and  the 
prosperity  of  fools  shall  destroy  them.  But  whoso 
hearkeneth  unto  me  shall  dwell  safely,  and  shall  be  quiet 
from  fear  of  evil." 

I  know  that  we  are  forbidden  to  be  anxious  for  the 
things  of  to-morrow,  but  this  text,  instead  of  teaching  the 
contrary,  teaches  the  same  doctrine.  We  are  not  to  be 
anxious  for  the  things  of  this  life,  which  we  may  need 
for  our  support  to-morrow.  We  are  to  be  "  anxious,  not 
for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which 
endure!  h  to  everlasting  life."  We  are  so  to  use  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when  we  are  put  out 
of  our  stewardship,  we  may  have  a  friend  who  may  re. 
ceive  us  into  everlasting  habitations. 

Thus  God  himself,  who  cannot  be  mistaken,  has  de- 
clared it  wise  to  look  well  to  our  future  prospects,  and 
11  lay  up  in  store  against  the  time  to  come,  that  we 
may  lay  hold  on  eternal  life." 

2.  The  wisdom  of  such  a  course  is  inferred  from  the 
fact,  that  in  all  other  things  we  consider  it  indispensa- 
ble. If  we  have  in  view  any  worldly  enterprise,  we,  as 
far  as  possible,  anticipate  the  concern  in  all  its  bearings, 
and  weigh,  before  we  meet  them,  every  embarrassment 
and  every  obstacle,  that  may  be  at  war  with  our  purpose, 
We  bring  before  us  the  darker  side  of  the  picture,  as  well 
as  the  brighter,  contemplate  every  passion,  and  every 
interest  with  which  we  may  come  in  contact,  and  press 
the  eye  of  the  mind  forward  to  meet  every  feature  of  the 
probable  result.  Is  one  about  to  leave  the  place  of  his 
nativity,  he  does  not  move,  if  he  is  wise,  till  he  has  care- 
fully surveyed  the  country  toward  which  he  bends  his 

17* 


194  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

wishes  and  his  hopes,  counts  the  cost  of  his  intended 
enterprise,  weighs  the  probable  advantages  of  the  re- 
moval, and  is  prepared  to  meet,  without  surprise,  every 
failure  that  can  lie  within  the  reach  of  probability. 
Thus  worldly  men  constantly  manage  the  concerns  of 
this  life,  and  the  Scriptures  assure  us,  that  they  are 
wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  children  of  light. 
Would  we  pursue  the  same  measures  relative  to  the  life 
to  come,  God  would  approve.  It  would  be  a  source  of 
conduct  becoming  a  wise  and  thinking  man.  We 
should  then  look  forward  and  survey  all  the  circum- 
stances of  our  departure  from  this  world,  the  state  of  our 
hearts,  the  probability  of  ourcomposure,and  our  acceptance 
in  the  hour  of  death,  the  ties  that  must  then  be  broken, 
the  titles  that  must  then  be  lost,  the  office  that  must  then  be 
resigned,  the  distinctions  that  must  then  be  levelled,  the 
possessions  that  must  be  relinquished,  the  exenions  that 
must  terminate,  and  the  pause  that  must  ensue  to  all 
our  schemes.  We  should  live  with  the  whole  scene  be- 
fore us,  and  often  summon  the  mind  to  bear,  with  all  its 
native  energies,  upon  that  most  interesting  epoch  of  our 
history.  I  knew  a  man,  who,  for  years,  kept  his  coffin 
in  his  chamber,  often  placed  himself  in  the  narrow 
house,  and  often  contemplated  the  scenes  of  his  inter- 
ment, and  thus  kept  himself  familiar  with  the  hour  of 
his  dissolution.  Now  should  we  not,  without  resorting 
to  such  means,  practice  the  same  forethought,  and  thus, 
if  possible,  have  the  terror  of  death  broken,  before  we  are 
called  to  the  last  and  desperate  contest.  What  argument 
can  be  offered  why  this  concern  should  not  be  the  subject 
of  meditation,  rather,  far  rather,  than  the  erection  of 
a  dwelling,  or  a  removal  to  some  distant  country.  The 
wise,  who  go  out  to  meet  the  bridegroom,  will  be  careful} 


THE   WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  195 

not  only  that  their  lamps  are  burning,  but  that  there  is 
oil  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps. 

3.  To  make  death  a  matter  of  previous  calculation,  is 
necessary  to  the  promotion  of  our  temporal  interest,  and 
that  of  our  heirs.  If  one  may  die  before  his  plans  are 
executed,  and  is  strongly  impressed  with  this  truth,  he 
will  conceive  none  but  such  as  another  can  carry  into 
operation.  This  would  be  the  dictate  of  wisdom.  He 
will  hold  his  concerns  in  such  a  state  of  order  and  ar- 
rangement, that  he  can,  at  a  moment's  warning,  hand 
over  his  records  and  his  wealth,  to  be  managed  and  en- 
joyed with  the  smallest  possible  embarrassment.  And 
such  a  state  of  things  has  always  been  considered  fa- 
vourable to  present  interest.  And  can  any  thought  be 
so  calculated  to  further  this  arrangement  as  the  strong 
impression  of  a  speedy  and  sudden  departure.  Let  a 
man  keep  his  concerns  in  such  a  state  that  if  death  arrest 
his  course,  nothing  is  deranged,  nothing  obscure,  nothing 
neglected,  and  he  will  be  the  man  whom  no  minor  event 
can  distract  or  destroy.  If,  then,  we  would  make  our 
calculations  merely  for  the  present  life,  to  often  contem- 
plate the  scenes  of  death,  would  further,  unspeakably 
this  one  interest.  But  some  may  feel  that  this  is  an  en- 
gagement too  sordid  to  have  weight  on  a  point  so  mo- 
mentous. 

I  observe,  then, 

4.  That  to  well  consider  our  latter  end  will  tend  to 
forward  our  preparation  for  the  scenes  of  death.  We 
all,  in  a  sense,  know  that  we  must  die ;  but  this 
truth  makes  so  little  impression,  ordinarily,  that  we 
may  be  said  to  doubt  it.  Young  says,  "  All  men  think 
all  men  mortal  but  themselves."  Should  a  stranger 
from  some  world  where  they  never  die,  glance  his  eye 
upon  this,  he  would  not  have  the  most  distant  concep- 


196  THE  WISE  MAN  "WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

tion,  that  we  had  any  fear  of  such  a  change.  He  would 
see  us  so  managing  our  concerns,  as  if  we  calculated  to 
be  the  perpetual  proprietors  of  the  soil  we  cultivate,  the 
merchandise  we  handle,  and  the  dwellings  we  occupy. 

In  this  state  of  things  the  thoughts  of  death  are  ex- 
cluded, and  consequently  all  preparation  for  that  hour 
is  deferred.  We  have  too  many  cares  to  give  death,  and 
hell,  and  heaven,  and  the  judgment,  any  permanent 
lodgement  in  the  mind,  and  too  many  sublunary  affec- 
tions to  leave  room  in  the  heart  for  more  sublime  attach- 
ments. The  course,  then,  that  wisdom  would  dictate  is 
plain.  Let  the  mind  be  emptied  of  its  cares,  and  let  the 
heart  dismiss  some  of  its  beloved  objects  ;  that  they  may 
be  better  employed  in  pondering  the  scenes,  and  fixing  a 
grasp  upon  the  objects  of  a  better  life.  Thus  we  should 
be  drawn  nearer  to  the  scenes  of  eternity,  should  feel  that 
its  interests  demanded  our  care,  and  should  be  led  to 
speed  our  preparation  for  a  dying  hour.  We  are  thus 
urged  to  the  subject,  by  all  that  heaven  is  worth,  by  all 
that  is  shocking  in  a  hopeless  death-bed,  and  by  all  that 
is  black,  and  dark,  and  dreadful,  in  the  untold  horrors  of 
the  second  death.  If  we  hold  an  unbroken  grasp 
upon  the  present  life,  and  the  present  world,  till  we  have 
come  to  the  precincts  of  another,  it  must  not  surprise  us, 
if  our  dying  lips  are  heard  to  utter  this  melancholy  out- 
cry, "  The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  I 
am  not  saved."  We  may  have  our  heaven  here  if  we 
can  stumble  upon  such  a  wretched  choice,  but  then,  all 
beyond  is  hell ;  or  we  may  deposit  our  treasure  in  heav- 
en, and  in  that  case  gather  many  of  its  comforts  on  our 
way  thither. 

5.  Wise  men  have  always  thought  much  on  the  sub- 
ject of  death.  Read  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  and 
prophets,  and  apostles,  and  how  often  do  we  see  them; 


THE  WISE  MAN    WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  197 

as  it  were,  wandering  amid  the  scenes  of  the  tomb. 
They  contemplated  the  event  of  death,  as  worthy  to 
occupy  a  prominent  place  in  every  scheme  of  life,  pre- 
pared themselves *a  sepulchre,  and  gave  commandment 
concerning  their  bones,  with  the  same  calmness  as  when 
they  thought  of  other  events.  Solomon  and  David 
seemed  to  feel  themselves  nobly  employed  in  describing 
the  scenes  of  the  dying  hour.  Locke  and  Newton,  men 
of  the  noblest  genius,  esteemed  the  present  world  as 
but  their  temporary  residence.  And  if  the  frequent  con- 
templation of  a  great  subject  is  evidence  of  a  great  mind, 
men  may  not  hope  to  evince  their  wisdom  by  dismissing 
the  subject  of  death,  and  the  grave.  Compared  with 
these,  all  other  subjects  are  small  and  mean.  Am  I  to 
drop  this  body,  and  enter  an  unknown  world,  and  find 
a  far  different  state  and  different  employ ;  these  are 
great  and  grand  ideas,  that  deserve  all  the  strength  of 
the  mind,  and  all  the  energy  of  the  heart  in  their  slow 
and  prayerful  contemplation.  Does  death  finish  my 
character,  and  fix  my  destiny,  and  place  me  unalterably 
in  paradise  or  perdition ;  I  have  not  a  care  so  worthy  to 
occupy  my  intellect,  nor  a  scene  in  contemplation  on 
which  I  so  much  hang  my  hopes,  and  about  which  clus- 
ter affections  so  worthy  the  dignity  of  my  immortal  na- 
ture. li  O  that  they  were  wise."  You  have  known 
cases,  when  men,  occupying  the  same  prison,  were  unr 
der  the  same  sentence  of  death.  You  entered  their 
apartment  on  the  morning  of  their  execution.  One  waa 
sporting  in  his  chains,  as  indifferent  to  the  scene  before 
him  as  if  no  crime  had  been  committed,  and  no  judg- 
ment had  been  given.  You  was  ready  to  presume,  that 
he  did  not  know  that  his  last  day  had  come,  and,  when 
undeceived  on  this  point,  did  you  not,  instinctively,  pro- 
nounce hiqr  a  fool?     His  fellow  sat  solitary  in  the  corner 


198  THE   WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

of  his  cell,  casting  his  eye  along  the  page  of  inspiration, 
and  when  he  saw  you  he  fixed  upon  you  a  look  of  wish- 
fulness  and  of  agony,  and  exclaimed,  "  This  is  my  last 
day ! "  Did  he  not  then  exhibit  a  dignity  that  com- 
manded your  tearful  respect  ?  The  one  intended  to 
postpone  the  cares  of  death  till  he  perished,  the  other 
pondered  the  scene  as  it  approached,  and  when  the  last 
day  had  come,  could  think  of  nothing  else.  From  the 
one  you  turned  with  disgust,  the  other  you  honoured. 
Yes,  and  we  have  the  same  impression,  when  we  meet 
with  men  of  these  opposite  characters  in  the  streets,  that 
you  had  when  you  entered  the  precints  of  that  dungeon. 
The  one  will  not  speak  nor  permit  us  to  speak  of  any 
world  but  this  ;  the  other  gladly  accompanies  us  to  the 
death-bed  and  the  judgment.  The  one  we  honour,  and 
the  other  we  pity.  We  know  that  both  are  condemned 
by  the  law  of  God,  and  that  both  must  die,  and  be 
judged,  and  have  their  state  unalterably  fixed,  and  live 
in  glory  forever,  or  lie  down  in  "  shame  and  everlasting 
contempt."  We  feel  that  it  would  be  wise  in  them  to 
lay  these  things  to  heart,  and  speak  of  them  as  amazing 
realities,  and  they  sink  in  our  estimation  if  we  see  them 
reluctant  to  cast  a  look  beyond  the  sepulchre. 

REMARKS. 

1.  Men  are  sometimes  afraid  to  think  of  death,  pre- 
suming that  such  thoughts  are  a  prelude  to  its  approach. 
I  believe  it  is  often  impressed  upon  their  minds,  that  to 
converse  with  the  scene  would  absolutely  urge  on  their 
dissolution.  But  we  shall  die  none  the  sooner,  if  we  oft- 
en contemplate  the  solemnities  of  our  departure.  Nor 
will  death  stay  his  progress  if  we  push  from  us  all  thoughts 
of  his  advance.     In  the  counsels  of  heaven  there  is  an 


THE  WISE  MAN  WISE    FOR   FUTURITY.  199 

appointed  time  when  we  shall  receive  our  arrest,  and 
the  places  that  know  us  shall  know  us  no  more. 
Why  then  be  afraid  to  meet  the  thoughts  of  futurity, 
and  to  converse  with  the  grave.  We  have  a  preparation 
to  make.  If  nothing  is  yet  done,  then  no  other  subject 
should  engross  the  mind  till  something  is.  Will  a  wise 
man  cultivate  his  fields,  till  he  has  made  some  effort  to 
have  his  heart  fruitful  in  the  affections  of  the  gospel  ? 
Will  he  be  careful  for  an  estate,  till  he  has  laid  up  his 
treasure  in  heaven  ?  Will  he  adjust  his  accounts  with 
men,  and  feel  no  concern  to  settle  the  quarrel,  and  have 
the  debt  cancelled,  that  stands  against  him  on  the  records 
of  his  Maker  ?  Will  he  regard  the  esteem  of  men,  and 
make  no  effort  to  wipe  from  his  character  the  almost  in- 
delible stigma  which  sin  has  stamped  upon  his  moral 
reputation  ?  There  is  no  other  concern  worth  your  care 
if  God  is  your  enemy.  Be  this  the  first,  and  be  this  the 
only  care,  till  that  tremendous  controversy  is  happily  ad- 
justed. 

2.  Sometimes  men  are  afraid  to  think  of  death,  be- 
cause they  know  that  they  are  not  prepared.  They  are 
scared  at  their  own  condition.  I  recollect  to  have  seen  it 
stated,  that  much  of  the  city  of  Paris  is  undermined 
by  a  quarry,  now  improved  as  a  cemetery,  where  mould- 
er the  ashes  and  the  bones  of  its  former  gay  and  thought- 
less population.  Fears  have  been  entertained  that  it 
might  one  day  sink  into  that  deep  and  fearful  sepulchre. 
A  slight  shock  of  an  earthquake  might  be  sufficient  to 
break  the  deceitful  incrustation  tipon  which  they  revel, 
and  under  which  they  are  destined  to  rot.  Lest  any 
should  take  alarm  at  their  frightful  situation,  I  am  told, 
there  is  a  law  of  the  city  forbidding  its  inhabitants  to 
explore  the  vault  that  yawns  beneath  them.     Thus  sin- 


200  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR    FUTURITY. 

ners  covet  the  calm  that  arises  from  ignorance  of  their 
true  condition.  But  blinded  as  they  may  keep  themselves 
to  their  real  danger,  their  condition  remains  the  same, 
and  the  pit  which  they  may  industriously  cover  still  waits 
to  receive  them.  One  would  think  it  more  wise  to  en- 
deavour to  know  the  worst  of  their  case,  and  if  on  an 
impartial  survey  it  shall  appear  desperate,  aim  to  secure, 
while  it  is  possible,  their  future  safety  and  blessedness. 
But  be  the  danger  of  delay  more  or  less  imminent,  they 
still  covet  a  little  more  sleep,  a  little  more  slumber,  a  little 
more  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep.  If  the  result  of  their 
delay  is  perdition,  all  this  danger  they  intend  to  risk. 

3.  Others  perhaps  refuse  to  consider  their  latter  end 
because  conscience  would  then  urge  them  to  fly  from 
the  wrath  to  come,  and  render  them,  unhappy,  if  they 
still  urged  their  way  to  death.  Having  by  some  means 
or  other  come  to  the  monstrous  conclusion,  that  religion 
would  render  them  miserable,  they  have  barred  their 
minds  and  their  hearts  against  all  its  claims.  Hence 
every  argument,  and  every  thought  that  may  suggest  an 
argument,  and  every  object  that  may  awaken  such  a 
thought,  are  barred  from  every  possible  approach  to  the 
mind.  In  this  condition  no  meditations  are  so  painful, 
as  those  by  which  the  mind  approaches  the  unseen 
wTorld,  and  gently  lifts  the  curtain  that  hides  futurity.  If 
men  should  act  so  madly  in  their  worldly  concerns,  they 
would  merit  a  cage,  a  chain,  or  a  guardian.  They  fly 
from  their  best  friends,  abandon  their  highest  interests, 
and  linger  on  the  shores  of  death  from  the  impression 
that  to  live  forever  would  render  them  wretched. 

4.  To  all  but  those  who  reject  a  Saviour,  the  medita- 
tions of  death  and  the  grave  are  pleasant.  Here  is  a  period 
to  all  their  pains,  their  toils,  their  fears,  and  their  doubts. 


THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  201 

In  death  they  drop  this  dying  body,  and  leave  in  the  grave 
the  last  relics  of  corruption.  AH  beyond  is  life,  and  joy, 
and  immortality.  There,  for  the  first  time,  the  good  man 
will  have  that  view  of  Christ  which  he  has  always  long- 
ed to  enjoy,  and  be  himself  what  he  has  always  wished  to 
be.  j^Hence  the  good  man  often  finds  the  pulse  of  his  joy 
quickened  by  conversing  with  the  grave.  To  him  it  ap- 
pears closely  connected  with  the  life  and  the  joys  to  come. 
Where  the  sinner  finds  nothing  but  corruption  and  mi- 
sery, he  gathers  hope,  and  joy,  and  life.  To  him,  to 
live  is  Christ,  but  to  die  is  gain.  How  delightful  when 
we  can  thus  think  of  death,  divested  of  its  sting,  and  of 
the  grave  as  a  kind  covert  from  the  storm,  a  shelter  and 
a  home  for  the  way-worn  pilgrim. 

APPLICATION. 

I  have  called  your  attention,  my  dear  friends,  to  this 
subject,  because  I  know  not  how  soon  you  or  I  may 
yield  this  transitory  life.  A  few  past  weeks  have  made, 
in  many  of  your  families,  deep  and  fearful  ravages. 
God  is  speaking  to  us  by  these  events,  and  the  text  is  the 
very  language  they  utter.  "  O  that  they  were  wise,  that 
they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider  their  lat- 
ter end."  If  God  is  heard  when  he  speaks,  it  is  well ; 
and  if  not,  he  will  speak  again  and  again.  Have  we 
resolved  to  turn  our  feet  to  his  testimonies  ]  Will  pro- 
fessors of  piety  closely  examine  their  hearts  and  their 
lives,  and  inquire  whether  they  have  been  born  of  God 
and  are  bringing  forth  fruit  meet  for  repentance  ?  May 
we  see  prayer  in  all  their  families,  and  piety  in  their  daily 
conversations  ?  Will  those  who  have  no  hope  that  their 
state  has  been  altered  relax  a  little  their  care  of  the  life 
that  now  is,  and  give  themselves  leisure  to  attend  to  the 
things  that  belong  to  their  peace,  before  it  be  hidden 

18 


202  THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY. 

from  their  eyes  ?  Will  parents  determine  to  go  home, 
and  set  their  house  in  order,  and  prepare  to  leave  their 
families  and  their  estates  forever  ?  May  we  hope  that 
the  close  contemplation  of  the  grave,  to  which  we  are 
invited,  may  urge  us  all  to  cleanse  our  consciences  from 
guilt,  to  application  to  God  for  pardon,  and  make  con- 
fession and  restitution  wherein  we  have  wronged  or 
abused  our  fellow-men.  It  will  be  dreadful  to  come  to 
the  death-bed  with  a  conscience  burdened  with  sin,  and 
feel  in  that  painful  hour  the  miseries  of  self-condemna- 
tion We  all  have  a  conscience,  and  never  is  it  so  like- 
ly to  gnaw  and  devour  as  when  some  sudden  attack  of 
disease  shuts  us  out  from  all  intercourse  with  the  world- 
Then,  if  our  miseries  do  not  forbid,  the  busy  mind  will 
retrace  our  past  life,  and  perhaps  bring  upon  that  hour 
the  compunction  which  it  should  now  be  our  wish  to 
feel,  and  the  anguish  which  then  we  shall  not  know  how 
to  endure. 

Is  our  peace  made  with  God  ?  Are  we  making  that 
use  of  the  gospel  which  was  heaven's  design  in  its  pub- 
lishment? Are  we  becoming  sanctified  through  the 
truth?  Or  is  the  gospel  more  likely  to  be  a  savor  of 
death  unto  death  to  us,  than  of  life  unto  life?  Are 
there  any  of  our  youth  who  are  beginning  to  inquire 
after  a  Saviour  and  a  pardon?  May  we  hope  that  be- 
lievers are  feeling  as  they  should  do  relative  to  those  who 
are  perishing  around  them  ?  Are  they  staying  the 
hands  of  their  pastor,  and  pouring  into  the  ears  of  their 
Redeemer  that  effectual,  fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous, 
which  availeth  much.  I  have  hoped,  and  so  have 
others,  that  God  was  about  to  pour  us  out  a  blessing. 
True,  there  stand  some  frightful  apprehension  in  the 
way  of  such  a  blessing.  But  God,  if  he  ever  returns 
and  leaves  a  blessing  behind  him,  must  receive  us  before 


THE  WISE  MAN  WISE  FOR  FUTURITY.  203 

we  are  worthy.  There  never  will  be  that  moment  when 
he  will  not  see  enough  in  us  to  provoke  him  rather  to 
destroy  us  than  to  save  us.  Hence  our  only  hope  is 
that  he  will  have  mercy  upon  us,  according  to  his  loving 
kindness,  and  according  unto  the  multitude  of  his  tender 
mercies. 


SERMON    LIV. 

THE    DESPERATE    EFFORT. 

Matthew,  xi.  12. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  suffered)  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force. 

I  remember  to  have  been  very  much  affected  with 
a  scrap  of  civil  story  which  I  met  with  in  the  history  of 
the  Greeks'  escape  from  the  iron  bondage  of  their  Turk- 
ish oppressors.  After  being  robbed  and  plundered  some 
hundreds  of  years,  they  at  length  attempted  to  escape. 
The  enemy  had,  for  some  months,  closely  besieged 
Missolonghi,  and  the  Grecian  band  had  concluded  to 
surrender  ;  but  as  there  was  nothing  for  them  but  servi- 
tude, or  death,  they  finally  concluded  not  to  be  taken, 
but  to  rush  into  the  fort  at  the  desperate  moment,  and 
blow  themselves  up.  Their  purpose  fixed,  and  the  light 
of  Greece  about  to  be  extinguished  forever,  there  was 
one  young  man  who,  with  his  sister,  concluded  to  watch 
the  favoured  moment,  and  rush  out  of  the  fort,  and  sell 
their  lives  as  dear  as  possible,  and  make  their  attack 
where  the  ranks  of  the  foe  were  the  thinnest.  They 
did  so ;  and  the  sister  being  mounted  upon  a  mule, 
fought  side  by  side  with  her  brother,  and  both  were  so 
inspired  by  their  desperation  that  they  hewed  themselves 
a  passage,  and  made  their  escape,  and  lived  to  tell  the 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT.  205 

story.     Their  settled  purpose  was  to  die,  sword  in  hand, 
or  spill  all  the  Turkish  blood  they  might,  and  live. 

Thus  men  must  determine  to  put  forth,  in  the 
effort  to  reach  heaven,  all  the  energy  they  can  muster, 
and  if  they  do  this,  they  shall  live.  I  suppose  this  to  be 
the  very  spirit  of  the  text,  which  reads  in  the  original, 
"  Agonize  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate." 

I  was  similarly  affected  by  a  narrative  of  the  escape 
of  a  post-man,  who,  for  a  very  large  reward,  attempted 
to  carry  a  letter  across  one  of  the  deep  glens  of  Scotland, 
through  an  overwhelming  north-east  storm.  He  had 
been,  if  I  remember  right,  a  shepherd,  and  fearlessly  set 
out  on  the  enterprise,  while  many  were  filled  with  appre- 
hension for  his  life,  if  the  storm  did  not  subside.  The 
weather  was  excessively  cold,  and  the  violence  of  the 
storm  rendered  it  impossible  to  see  any  track  of  man  or 
beast,  through  the  whole  glen.  The  only  chance  of  a 
safe  arrival  consisted  of  some  knowledge  he  had  of  the 
ground,  where  he  had  many  a  time  driven  his  flocks  in 
summer.  But,  as  he  afterward  assured  us,  one  may 
have  a  very  accurate  knowledge  of  the  way  in  summer, 
while,  in  a  winter  storm  of  snow,  at  night,  the  whole 
way  seems  like  a  trackless  ocean.  It  is  said  that  some 
of  those  glens  in  Scotland  are  so  full  of  snow  in  winter 
as  not  to  thaw  out  in  midsummer. 

His  courage,  as  the  storm  thickened,  and  the  cold  in- 
creased, would  have  failed,  but  at  length  it  became  as 
doubtful  whether  he  could  find  the  way  back,  as  whe- 
ther he  should  succeed  in  crossing  the  mountain  ridge 
in  safety.  As  he  had  to  cross  many  a  small  stream, 
now  filled  with  snow,  he  not  unfrequently  sunk,  and 
wet  his  feet  in  the  stream,  and  on  bringing  them  up 
again  to  the  cold  air,  they  froze,  and  at  length  became 

18* 


206 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT. 


so  disabled  that  he  could  rise  on  his  feet  no  more,  and  he 
had  to  press  forward  on  his  knees,  as  well  as  he  could. 
From  some  indications,  he  concluded,  that  he  had 
well  nigh  crossed  the  glen,  and  might,  by  lifting  up  his 
voice,  be  heard.  He  cried  aloud  for  help — a  lost 
traveller! — but  cried  in  vain.  At  length  he  became 
frozen  to  his  knees,  and  he  could  only  worm  himself  on- 
ward with  his  hands,  for  he  knew  that  when  he  should 
cease  all  exertion,  he  must  immediately  die,  and  there 
was  a  possibility  that  his  cry  might  be  heard,  and  he 
should  live.  Hence  he  raised  again  and  again  his  cry, 
a  lost  traveller  !  But  at  length,  a  little  opening  of  the 
storm  showed  a  shepherd's  cot  at  hand.  He  had  not 
missed  his  way  to  the  cottage  of  a  shepherd  which  he 
sought,  and  easily  wormed  himself  to  his  very  door,  and 
gave  the  signal  that  saved  his  life.  His  friend  opened  to 
him  and  built  a  fire,  and  warmed  him  into  recollection 
and  recovery. 

But  if  that  man  had  not  persevered  after  he  had  frozen 
his  feet,  and  even  after  he  could  no  longer  travel  on  his 
lower  limbs,  but  had  to  worm  his  way  on  his  elbows,  he 
must  have  died.  Although  he  was  near  the  shepherd's 
cot,  yet  as  he  did  not  know  his  position,  if  his  resolution 
had  failed  for  a  moment,  and  exertion  had  ceased,  he 
must  have  died.  He  agonized  to  live,  and  his  agoni- 
zing saved  him.  And  if  we  will  only  thus  agonize  to 
live  forever,  we  shall  live  forever. 

There  is  not  an  enterprise  we  undertake  that  requires 
so  much  exertion  as  to  reach  heaven.  Those  who  con- 
clude that  they  know  enough  of  the  subject  already,  and 
that  heaven  will  come  as  a  thing  of  course',  and  fold 
their  arms  and  slumber  on,  will  die  in  their  sins,  and 
never  see  the  King  in  his  beauty.  The  few  years  of 
their  probation  will  slip  by  before  they  are  aware,  and 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT.  207 

they  will  just  begin  to  feel  the  importance  of  doing  some- 
thing, when  they  shall  find  themselves  upon  a  dying 
bed,  the  harvest  past,  the  summer  ended,  and  they  un- 
sanctified.  The  divine  direction  is,  "Strive  to  enter  in 
at  the  strait  gate,"  agonize  to  enter  in.  There  is  here 
no  tameness,  nor  waiting,  nor  listlessness,  nor  indiffer- 
ence. We  are  to  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God,  and 
force  our  way  to  heaven,  as  men  cut  themselves  a  path 
by  dint  of  prowess,  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  and 
make  their  escape,  when  there  seems  nothing  before  them 
but  death.  Who  can  you  expect  to  be  concerned  for 
your  salvation,  if  you  care  not  for  it  yourself?  Who 
will  agonize  for  your  cleansing,  and  your  pardon,  and 
your  acceptance,  if  you  care  for  none  of  these  things  ? 
If  God  ever  interpose  in  your  behalf,  the  first  thing  he 
will  do  will  be  to  awaken  you  to  the  concerns  of  your 
own  soul.  If  you  are  not  now  awakened,  it  is  certain 
you  are  still  in  the  broad  way  to  destruction.  Let  me 
offer  a  few  reasons  why  you  should  try  to  be  saved. 

1.  You  cannot  expect  to  be  saved  loithout  trying. 
<'  The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  says  Christ,  "  suffereth  vio- 
lence, and  the  violent  take  it  by  force :"  implying,  as  all 
agree,  that  if  we  would  be  saved,  we  must  make  great 
exertion. 

If  we  would  get  to  heaven  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
truth  that  we  must  know  and  believe.  We  must  be 
acquainted  with  the  character  of  God  that  we  may  love 
him  ;  with  the  character,  offices,  and  work  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  we  may  trust  in  him ;  with  the  nature  and 
operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  we  may  feel  his  sanc- 
tifying influence.  We  must  be  acquainted  with  our 
hearts,  or  we  shall  never  see  the  need  of  their  being  pu- 
rified ;  and  with  all  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  or 
there  will  be  no  medium  of  our  cleansing.     "  Sanctify 


208  THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT. 

them  through  thy  truth."  We  must  know  the  Scripture 
account  of  heaven,  or  we  cannot  wish  to  be  there  ;  and 
to  learn  all  this  truth  will  require  great  exertion. 

We  have  a  great  many  si?is  to  subdue,  and  must  cal- 
culate to  wrestle  hard  for  the  mastery.  Neither  pride, 
nor  envy,  nor  anger,  nor  vanity,  nor  ambition,  nor  lust, 
nor  selfishness,  can  enter  heaven.  We  must  put  off  all 
these  :  "  anger,  wrath,  malice,  blasphemy,  filthy  commu- 
nication out  of  our  mouth."  These  vile  affections  must 
all  have  been  subdued  when  we  reach  heaven.  The  war- 
fare is  no  mean  one.  A.nd  more  yet :  "  we  wrestle  not 
againt  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  principalities,  against 
powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world, 
against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places."  We  must 
fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  lay  hold  on  eternal  life. 

Nor  can  we  enter  heaven  unless  we  have  all  the  fea- 
tures of  the  divine  image :  we  must  "  add  to  our  faith, 
virtue ;  and  to  virtue,  knowledge ;  and  to  knowledge, 
temperance ;  and  to  temperance,  patience ;  and  to  pa- 
tience, godliness  ;  and  to  godliness,  brotherly-kindness  ; 
and  to  brotherly-kindness,  charity."  We  must  be  fa- 
miliar with  the  exercises  of  "  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suf- 
fering, gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temper- 
ance." We  must  "  forget  those  things  which  are  behind, 
and  reaching  forth  unto  the  things  which  are  before,  and 
press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  Now,  all  this  implies  great 
exertion,  which,  if  we  do  not  make,  we  cannot  reach  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

2.  Striving  to  be  saved,  you  have  the  most  kind  as- 
surance of  success.  The  obstructions  to  your  salvation 
are  all  removed,  on  God's  part,  by  the  death  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  God  can  now  be  "just,  and  the  justifier  of 
him  that  believeth."  "  Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together, 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT.  209 

righteousness  and  peace  embrace  each  other."  If  you 
seek  wisdom  "  as  silver,  and  search  for  her  as  for  hid 
treasure,"  you  shall  "  understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
and  find  the  knowledge  of  God."  "  He  that  seeketh 
findeth,  and  to  him  that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened." 
And  hence  the  kind  invitation,  "  Seek  ye  the  Lord 
while  he  may  be  found,  call  ye  upon  him  while  he  is 
near."  "  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  un- 
righteous man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the 
Lord  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him,  and  to  our  God 
for  he  will  abundantly  pardon." 

Sinner,  as  God  is  true,  who  has  given  all  these  assu- 
rances and  promises,  it  will  be  your  own  fault  if  you  are 
not  saved  ;  and  you  will  have,  to  torment  you  in  the  fu- 
ture world,  the  consciousness  that  you  chose  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  your  deeds  were  evil.  You 
might  have  lived  in  heaven,  had  you  not  despised  the 
mercy  offered  you,  and  counted  yourself  unworthy  of 
everlasting  life.  When  was  it  ever  known  that  a  sinner 
made  any  suitable  exertions  to  be  saved,  and  still  was 
lost  1  Among  all  their  unreasonable  complaints  of  per- 
dition, none  ever  had  occasion  to  say,  "  I  went  to  the  Sa- 
viour, at  his  invitation,  and  believed  the  promises,  and 
had  assurances  of  pardon,  and  hope  of  heaven,  and  yet 
am  lost !  "  No  !  not  one  of  the  spirits  in  prison  can  have 
any  such  alleviation  of  his  torment  as  the  thought  that 
he  perished  through  the  failure  of  a  Saviour's  promise. 
Why  then  will  you  not  be  saved  ?  God  will  glorify  him- 
self by  you,  either  in  your  destruction  or  salvation,  and 
he  commands  you  to  choose  life.  But  you  must  choose 
now — "  now  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation." If  you  will  not  believe,  the  sin  and  the  ruin  will 
your  own. 

3.  You  should  try  to  be  saved,  because,  with  a  heav' 


210  THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT. 

enly  temper,  you  can  be  more  useful  in  life.  How 
much  can  you  do  to  induce  men  to  respect  the  name  of 
God,  and  obey  his  law,  and  honour  his  government,  and 
keep  his  Sabbaths,  and  revere  his  sanctuary,  and  obey 
his  gospel.  You  can  set  an  example  to  men  of  all  the 
duties  of  piety,  and  induce  others,  by  your  godly  conver- 
sation, to  glorify  your  Father  in  heaven,  and  thus  be- 
come a  light  of  the  world.  You  can  help  to  strengthen 
Christian  affection,  and  bind  into  a  still  closer  and  love- 
lier union  the  members  of  the  body  of  Christ.  You 
can  aid  their  joy,  and  promote  their  sanctification  and 
their  usefulness.  You  can  set  an  example  of  the  moral 
virtues,  and  by  your  conduct  and  precepts,  elevate  pub- 
lic sentiment,  till  a  great  amount  of  the  misery  that  falls 
to  the  lot  of  sinners  around  you  shall  be  cured  or  allevi- 
ated. And  when  saved  yourself,  you  can,  by  God's 
blessing,  induce  other  sinners  to  fly  for  refuge,  and  lay 
hold  on  the  hope  set  before  them  in  the  gospel.  But 
none  of  this  can  it  be  hoped  you  will  do,  till  you  are 
saved  yourself. 

4.  You  should  try  to  be  saved,  because  you  could  be 
so  useful  in  heaven.  God  has  given  you  a  mind,  and 
if  not  now  the  most  brilliant,  it  might  perhaps  be  such  in 
heaven.  The  rough  block  of  marble  may  embosom  the 
most  beautiful  specimens  of  polished  and  useful  work- 
manship. Your  mind,  could  it  once  be  placed  in  the 
school  of  Christ,  and  afterward  in  heaven,  might  claim, 
for  aught  you  know,  a  blessed  elevation  among  its  ran- 
somed choirs.  Unclog  it,  and  none  can  say  but  it  may  yet 
vie  with  angelic  powers.  And  God  might  then  employ  it, 
we  know  not  how,  in  the  loftiest  enterprise.  We  do  not 
believe  that  heaven  will  be  a  place  of  idleness.  Some  new 
anthem  may  perpetually  elicit  more  delight  through  all 
the  heavenly  courts.     Some  new  means  of  doing  good 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT.  211 

to  that  world,  or  this,  or  some  other,  may  from  time  to 
time  arrest  the  attention  of  angels,  and  secure  the  co-ope- 
ration of  all  the  holy  assembly.  Such,  we  may  suppose, 
was  the  visit  of  Gabriel  to  Daniel ;  and  such  the  song  of 
angels,  heard  by  the  watchful  shepherds,  at  the  birth 
of  Christ.  None  can  say  that  the  Redeemer  may  not 
employ  in  administering  the  government  of  this  world, 
the  very  beings  he  has  redeemed  from  it  with  his  blood. 
O  sinner  !  we  regret  that  you  should  be  lost,  for  we  know 
not  how  useful  you  might  be  in  heaven. 

5.  You  should  try  to  be  saved  also,  because  you  could 
be  50  happy  in  heaven.  Even  in  this  poor  world  there 
is  enjoyment.  How  much  greater  will  be  our  bliss  in 
heaven,  where  all  obstructions  to  our  happiness  will  be 
removed.  There  will  be  no  unhallowed  passions  to  be 
excited.  No  pain  will  there  arise  from  anger,  wrath, 
malice,  envy,  ambition,  covetousness,  pride,  vanity,  lust, 
jealousy,  or  revenge.  There  will  be  no  natural  body  to 
hunger,  thirst,  faint,  and  tire ;  to  suffer  pain  from  frost, 
or  heat,  or  famine,  or  pestilence,  or  wound,  or  bruise,  or 
mutilation,  or  death.  There  will  be  no  foe  to  hurt  your 
character,  your  interest,  your  feelings,  or  your  person  ;  no 
rival  to  hate,  or  inferior  to  despise.  There  will  be  in 
heaven  no  sun  to  scorch,  or  storm  to  destroy,  or  moon  or 
sun  to  be  eclipsed,  or  sky  to  be  clouded.  Suppose  all  this, 
and  how  much  of  life's  misery  is  gone. 

Add  now  to  the  removal  of  these  obstructions  every 
positive  good  that  an  Almighty  God  can  bestow ;  a 
mind  fully  illuminated,  a  heart  the  seat  of  every  kind  and 
holy  affection,  a  conscience  exonerated  from  guilt,  an 
imagination  unlimited  in  its  power  of  conception,  a  judg- 
ment that  can  never  err.  Let  there  be  presented  to  the 
admiring  view  all  that  is  lovely,  all  that  can  be  included 


212  THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT. 

in  the  golden  city,  the  rivers,  and  the  tree  of  life,  the 
banquet  of  the  Lamb,  "  the  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory,"  the  everlasting  song,  the  unin- 
terrupted rest,  and  the  society  forever  of  holy  men  and 
holy  angels.  All  this  would  render  you  so  happy,  that 
we  cannot  endure  the  thought  of  your  being  lost.  Try 
then  to  be  saved,  that  you  may  be  happy  in  heaven. 

6.    What  others  have  done  for  your  salvation  should 
induce  you  to  try  to  be  saved.     The  plan  for   your  re- 
demption was  laid  in  heaven.     To  accomplish   it,  the 
Son   of  God  became  incarnate,  lived  a  life  of  sorrow, 
and  died  on  the  cross,  and  now  ever  lives  to  make  inter- 
cession for  you.     How   much  he  must  have  cared  for 
your  soul !   In  the  achievement  of  the  same  plan  of  mer- 
cy, the  Holy  Spirit  was  sent  from  heaven  to  awaken  and 
sanctify  you.     He  has  often  strove  with  you,  has  pro- 
duced alarm  in  your  conscience,  and  perhaps  deep  con- 
viction ;  has  given  the  truth  sometimes  a  fixed  lodge- 
ment by  the  side  of  your  heart.     Thus  has  he  evinced 
his  readiness  to  save  you.     And  his  ministers,  too,  have 
long  and  earnestly  pleaded  with  you.     In  many  a  ser- 
mon, unless  you  have  absented  yourself  from  the  house 
of  God,  they  have  pleaded   with  you  to  "  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come,  and  lay  hold  on  everlasting  life."     And 
they  have  sometimes  felt  an  agony  for  your  soul,  that, 
it  would  seem,  could  not  be  denied.     They  have  prayed 
for  you  many  a  time  in  the  midnight  hour,  and  then 
have  come  from  their  closets  and  wept  over  you — and 
all,  it  seems,  to  no  purpose. 

It  may  be  that  a  pious  parent  has  long  cared  for  your 
soul.  Through  the  fear  that  you  would  be  lost,  that 
faithful  friend  may  have  wished  many  a  time  that  you 
had  never  been  born.      O  !  could  you  have  known  the 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT.  213 

anxiety  and  the  agony  of  that  parent,  while  watching 
over  the  slumbers  of  your  cradle,  then  you  would  try  to 
be  saved. 

And  it  may  be  that  a  pious  brother,  or  sister,  or  wife, 
is  at  this  moment  pleading  at  the  throne  of  grace  for  your 
salvation.  And  will  you  not  then  care  for  yourself,  and 
try  to  be  saved  ?  All  this  care  for  you — and  you  none 
for  yourself ! 

7.  You  should  try  to  be  saved,  because  you  must  be 
infinitely  degraded  in  hell  You  are  to  remember, 
that  you  were  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  ;  that 
you  have  a  nature  capable  of  being  elevated  to  a  close 
companionship  with  them,  and  of  pouring  forth  a  praise 
as  noble,  and  glowing  with  a  love  as  ardent  as  theirs. 
And  now  to  think  of  sinking  with  such  a  nature  down 
to  hell,  of  being  the  companion  of  devils,  and  of  employ- 
ing your  lips  in  unceasing  blasphemy, — how  gloomy 
the  conception  !  There  will  be,  in  your  case,  the  shame 
of  being  convicted,  and  that  before  assembled  worlds,  and 
of  being  banished  into  outer  darkness,  where  is  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth.  And  your  fall  from  the  hope  of 
heaven  must  be  known.  You  must  be  forever  congre- 
gated with  the  meanest  of  your  race,  the  thief,  the  robber, 
the  murderer,  the  swindler,  the  liar,  the  drunkard,  and 
the  whole  mass  of  convicts.  And  your  employment  will 
be  suited  to  the  temper  of  your  heart,  and  all  restraint 
removed.  Hence  despair,  and  blasphemy,  and  malice, 
and  revenge,  will  be  the  habitual  and  the  degraded  exer- 
cise of  the  damned. 

Hell  will  be  the  grand  prison  of  the  universe,  where 
will  be  collected  the  incorrigibly  wicked,  the  smoke  of 
whose  torment  will  ascend  up  forever  and  ever,  marking 
out  the  place  as  the  most  accursed  spot  in  all  the  dominion 
of  God.     The  ignominy  of  such  an  imprisonment,  and 

19 


214  THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT. 

such  a  damnation,  if  there  were  no  positive  punishment 
inflicted,  no  quenchless  fire,  nor  never-dying  worm, 
would  be  more  than  can  be  endured.  "  Can  thine  heart 
endure,  or  can  thine  hands  be  strong  in  the  day  that  I 
shall  deal  with  thee  ?  " 

8.  You  should  try  to  be  saved,  because  the  most  bitter 
reflections  await  you  if  you  are  not  saved.  You  will 
reflect  how  much  was  done  to  save  you  ;  how  much  the 
Saviour  did  ;  how  much  the  Father  did  ;  how  much  the 
Spirit  did  ;  how  much  your  Christian  friends  did — all  to 
no  purpose.  You  will  reflect  how  many  sermons,  and 
prayers,  and  tears,  and  entreaties,  and  Sabbaths,  and 
sacraments,  and  admonitions  of  conscience,  and  revival 
seasons,  and  alarming  events  of  Providence,  have  spent 
their  force  upon  you  to  no  purpose,  hardening  you,  when 
perhaps  they  might  have  saved  you. 

You  will  reflect  how  easy  were  the  terms  of  salvation ; 
that  you  were  offered  life  if  you  would  only  believe ;  that 
no  truth  was  required  to  be  believed  but  that  of  which  you 
had  evidence ,  and  no  duty  to  be  done  but  that  which 
would  have  been  pleasant ;  that  your  life,  if  you  had 
believed,  would  have  been  more  happy,  your  death  tran- 
quil, and  your  eternity  glorious.  You  will  reflect  how 
nigh  you  came  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  was  lost. 
Born  in  a  Christian  land,  of  Christian  parents,  the 
Bible  early  in  your  hand,  and  you  as  early  taught  to 
read  it,  given  up  to  God  from  your  birth,  instructed 
carefully  in  the  truth,  and  furnished  with  the  Sabbath, 
and  all  its  holy  appendages — it  will  seem  to  you,  forever, 
that  you  sunk  down  to  perdition  from  the  very  threshold 
of  heaven. 

You  will  reflect  how  many,  with  no  more,  and  perhaps 
fewer  advantages  than  you,  have  escaped  to  heaven. 
Your  brother  or  sister,  it  may  be,  was  saved,  while  you 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT.  215 

were  lost.  Some,  perhaps,  your  immediate  friends,  of 
wicked  families,  and  having  nothing  like  the  advantages 
that  you  had,  have  reached  heaven,  while  you  have  been 
lost.  Shall  these  bitter  reflections  prey  upon  you  like  a 
famine,  or  a  pestilence,  forever?  Will  you  not  try  to 
be  saved  ?  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate ;  for 
many,  I  say  unto  you,  shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall 
not  be  able." 

9.  You  should  attempt  now  to  be  saved,  because  the 
longer  you  postpone,  the  less  is  the  probability  that 
the  attempt  will  ever  be  made.  Whatever  are  the 
reasons  of  the  postponement,  they  are  reasons  furnished 
by  depravity,  and  will,  of  course,  increase  with  the 
growth  of  sin.  If  it  be  enmity  to  the  kind  and  lovely 
Saviour,  it  will  multiply  with  your  years,  and  ripen  with 
your  age.  If  his  eternal  excellencies  have  never  yet  won 
your  heart — if  the  glories  that  have  attracted  the  gaze, 
and  waked  the  song  of  angels,  and  been  echoed  in  notes 
of  victory  through  the  caverns  of  death,  have  produced 
no  thrill  of  joy  in  your  soul,  how  can  you  hope  that,  as 
his  glories  shall  become  more  brilliant,  and  the  notes  of 
his  conquest  shall  wax  louder  and  louder,  your  spirit  will 
become  subdued  ?  Will  it  not  rise  in  its  wrath,  and  en- 
venomed at  length  like  the  serpent  that  has  plunged  its 
fangs  into  its  own  life-stream,  seal  its  own  damnation, 
and  lie  down  in  fire  ?  Wait  not  till  heaven  has  raised 
another  shout  of  victory ;  stay  not  till  Christ  has  con- 
quered the  gods  of  China,  or  quelled  the  demons  of  Ham's 
dark  empire,  lest  his  glories  should  pierce  your  soul 
through  with  the  poisoned  arrows  of  everlasting  chagrin. 
O  wait  not  to  have  the  Hero  of  Calvary  put  forth  any 
hidden  glory  of  his  name  !  Devils  will  taunt  the  sinner 
that  waits  for  this,  and  is  damned.  His  laurels  wave  al- 
ready over  their  dark  empire,  and  their  king  quaila  at 


216  THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT. 

His  power,  and  dies  anew,  whenever  another,  and  still 
another  victory  is  sung. 

10.  Or  do  you  postpone  embracing  the  Saviour,  because 
you  have  not  yet  had  your  fill  of  sin  ?  Surely  it  has 
made  you  miserable  enough.  Your  satiety,  after  a  scene 
of  pleasure,  has  sometimes  been  almost  insupportable. 
When  it  threatened  your  health,  or  yom  character,  or  your 
business,  to  continue  any  longer  in  sin,  how  indescribable 
have  been  your  sensations  of  regret !  You  wished  you 
had  never  loved  sin,  or  learned  to  sin  ;  you  wished  that 
your  parents  had  early  restrained  you ;  you  regretted 
that  you  had  ever  formed  an  acquaintance  with  that 
man  who  tempted  you  to  sin ;  that  you  had  ever  been 
in  that  circle  whose  bewitching  snares  have  caught  you 
and  held  you  ;  that  ever  you  visited  that  scene  of  dissipa- 
tion, or  went  to  that  house  of  death.  How  horrid,  to  be  fill- 
ing up  life  with  these  regrets,  and  to  pore  unavailingly  over 
what  should  be  at  once  repented  of  and  abandoned  !  How 
grovelling,  to  be  howling  upon  your  bed,  when,  if  you 
would  only  be  ingenuous  enough  to  repent,  you  might  be 
lifting  up  your  voice  in  praise,  and  be  singing  on  your 
way  to  the  grave,  songs  sweet  as  angels  use.  The 
meanness  of  sin  will  render  it  impossible  that  the  lost 
should  have  any  respect  for  themselves,  or  for  each  other, 
in  the  world  of  death  !  How  utterly  vain  the  expecta- 
tion, that  there  shall  be  in  that  world  any  thing  worthy 
to  be  called  society,  or  kindness,  or  friendship  !  O,  it 
will  be  all  a  mass  of  despair,  and  chagrin,  and  hatred, 
and  shame ;  when,  if  men  would  only  be  wise  now, 
and  accept  the  offered  Saviour,  all  this  might  be  exchan- 
ged for  heaven,  where  kindred  spirits  might  bask  in  ever- 
lasting sunshine  through  all  the  years  of  the  existence  of 
the  unchanging  God. 

1.  Remark. — But  why  does  God  make  it  so  difficult 


THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT.  217 

to  get  to  heaven  1  Does  he  delight  to  put  poor  human 
nature  upon  such  a  painful  effort  with  no  specific  de- 
sign ?  We  suppose  that  God  has  a  wise  and  good  de- 
sign, and  that  his  design  may  be  obvious.  To  make 
such  a  mighty  effort  to  reach  heaven  will  greatly  en- 
hance the  joy  of  being  saved.  O,  when  the  effort  is 
made,  is  over,  and  the  object  won,  with  how  much  joy 
may  believers  look  back  on  all  the  way  that  God  led 
them  to  his  kingdom.  When  they  shall  see  the  wilder- 
ness all  trodden  over,  every  sin  and  every  foe  subdued, 
and  every  snare  escaped,  and  look  upon  the  heavenly 
route  from  the  heights  of  Zion,  they  will  sing  the  more 
joyfully  to  the  honour  of  him  who  led  them  by  a  right 
way,  that  they  might  go  to  a  city  of  habitation.  How 
joyfully  would  that  Grecian  pair  raise  among  their  coun- 
trymen, the  long  and  loud  Te  Deam  to  the  God  of 
armies !  when  there  had  so  few  escaped  and  yet  they 
had  escaped,  and  when  they  found  themselves  the  only 
two  who  had  sold  their  lives  at  any  price,  and  they  had 
brought  life  away  with  them  in  all  its  vigour  and  in  all 
its  youth,  life  to  them  would  seem  more  lovely. 

2.  If  we  have  taken  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  our  goods  ; 
knowing  in  ourselves  that  we  have  in  heaven  a  better 
and  an  enduring  substance,  and  through  much  tribula- 
tion have  come  where  that  treasure  is,  and  find  it  ample 
and  abiding,  heaven  will  always  seem  worth  more  for 
the  cost  of  it.  We  always  value  most  what  cost  us 
most ;  and  if  heaven  cost  us  more  than  every  thing  be- 
side, we  shall  proportionally  esteem  it.  When  the  whole 
family  of  the  redeemed  shall  have  vied  with  each  other 
through  ten  thousand  ages,  in  the  effort  to  see  which  can 
set  the  highest  price  upon  the  exceeding  weight  of  glory 
that  shall  have  been  poured  in  upon  their  glorified  spirits, 
they  will  not  have  reached  the  price  or  told  the  value. 

19* 


218  THE  DESPERATE  EFFORT. 

Its  price  is  far  above  rubies.  One  will  value  that  world 
highly,  because,  in  competitorship  with  a  million  of  his 
generation  he  out-did  them  all  in  the  effort  to  keep  fanned 
up  the  flame  of  holy  love  in  his  heart,  which  held  him 
ready  for  a  renewed  conflict  on  the  bed  of  death  with 
that  enemy  who  goes  about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour.  Another  and  another  will  throw 
into  their  song  of  victory  the  joy  of  an  exemplary  youth, 
made  so  by  the  constant  application  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  raised  them  above  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  the 
lusts  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life. 

One  lovely  mother  will  sing  of  a  reviving  season, 
in  the  evening-time  of  life,  which  threw  by,  and 
passed  over,  the  storms  that  had  gathered  about  the  place 
of  her  setting  sun,  and  gave  her  joy  in  death.  Thus 
one,  and  another,  and  another,  when  they  shall  have 
fought  the  good  fight,  and  finished  their  course,  and  kept 
the  faith,  and  have  found  laid  up  for  them  in  heaven,  a 
crown  of  life,  will  unite  to  say  in  one  eternal  chorus, 
God  is  the  King  !  The  one  hundred  and  forty  and  four 
thousand  that  have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them 
white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  will  grace  the  marriage 
supper,  and  utter  in  a  long  and  loud  response,  "  This  is 
the  Lord,  we  have  waited  for  him  and  he  will  save  us  ; 
this  is  our  God !  we  have  waited  for  him  and  we  will 
be  glad  and  rejoice  in  his  salvation." 


SERMON    LV. 
CONCIO    AD   CLERUM. 

II.  Timothy,  i.  8. 
Be  thou  a  partaker  of  the  afflictions  of  the  gospel. 

Most  other  parts  of  Paul's  instructions  to  Timothy, 
have  been,  at  times,  the  foundation  of  address  to  God's 
ministers ;  but  this,  to  my  knowledge,  never.  The 
opinion  is,  that  Paul  wrote  this  epistle  some  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  after  the  date  of  the  first,  near  the  close  of 
life,  and  while  a  prisoner  at  Rome.  It  contains  his  dy- 
ing advice,  given  in  view  of  the  assurance  that  his  de- 
parture was  at  hand.  Timothy  was  his  own  son  in  the 
gospel,  and  he  expresses  for  him  a  peculiar  affection,  and 
deals  out  paternal  advice,  in  a  dress  the  most  kind  and 
amiable. 

The  exhortation  in  the  text  is  somewhat  singular. 
Did  Timothy  need  to  be  exhorted  to  become  a  partaker 
in  the  afflictions  of  the  gospel?  Did  it  depend  on  his 
choice,  whether  he  would,  or  would  not,  be  a  partaker  in 
those  afflictions  ?  Was  it  desirable  that  he  stand  ready 
and  willing  to  suffer  1  Was  it  honourable  or  necessary 
to  be  afflicted  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  if  he  might 
escape  ?  To  all  these  questions  the  text  implies  an  an- 
swer in  the  affirmative. 

It  is  more  than  possible  that  he  saw  Timothy  tempted 
to  deny  his  father  in  Christ,  now  that  he  was  in  bonds. 
The  enemy  would  tauntingly  say,  This  is  the  proselyte, 


220  CONCIO  AD  CLERUM. 

and  the  pupil  of  that  Paul  who  has  gone  to  Rome  in 
bonds.  Hence  Timothy,  as  Peter  on  a  former  occasion, 
would  be  in  danger  of  saying,  I  know  not  the  man- 
He  might  thus  hope  to  escape  the  cross,  and  might  fear 
that  otherwise  chains  might  be  fastened  on  himself,  as  a 
man  equally  dangerous  with  his  master.  Hence  he  ex- 
horts him  as  in  the  text. 

But  the  exhortation  is  not  of  private  interpretation, 
and  will  apply  to  the  people  of  God,  and  especially  his 
ministers,  in  this  age,  as  readily  as  in  any  one  that 
has  gone  by.  In  what  follows  I  shall  notice  some  of  the 
afflictions  of  the  gospel,  explain  the  import  of  the  exhort- 
ation, and  urge  upon  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  the 
duty  of  becoming  voluntary  partakers  in  these  afflictions. 

I.  I  am  to  notice  some  of  the  afflictions  of  the  gos- 
pel. In  doing  this,  however,  I  shall  rather  dwell  on  the 
causes  of  these  afflictions. 

1.  The  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  must  form  and  de- 
fend an  unpopular  character.  I  am  aware  that  efforts 
have  been  made  to  show  that  the  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  people  of  God  generally,  need  have  nothing  about 
them  peculiar,  and  I  am  aware,  too,  that  many,  pro- 
fessing godliness,  have  made  the  experiment  of  being,  in 
their  whole  deportment,  what  the  world  are.  And  it 
cannot  be  denied,  that  they  have  been,  in  that  case, 
greatly  caressed  by  the  world.  "  If  ye  were  of  the 
world  the  world  would  love  his  own."  Can  we  but 
flatter  as  adroitly,  and  dress  as  gaily,  and  joke  as  famili- 
arly, and  laugh  as  loudly,  as  the  most  thoughtless  of  the 
multitude,  they  will  cease  their  complaints.  With  the 
minister  of  the  gospel  who  can  shine  in  the  party,  and 
advocate  the  dance,  and  make  the  game  innocent,  and 
the  theatre  chaste,  and  every  other  vain  amusement 
harmless,  the  world  will  have  no  quarrel.     Not  the  most 


CONCIO  AD  CLERUM.  221 

profane,  or  proud,  or  gay,  or  voluptuous,  will  have  any 
fault  to  find  with  him,  when  he  ceases  to  reproach  them. 
Let  him  in  company  keep  back  the  subject  that  would 
give  offence,  and  suppress  the  dissent  that  would  be  un- 
welcome, and  bless  whom  the  world  blesses,  and  rebuke 
whom  they  abominate,  and  the  world  will  pronounce 
him  a  fine,  a  charming  fellow.  Let  him  associate  with 
the  gluttonous  man,  and  the  wine-bibber,  'and  not  carry 
to  their  house  and  their  table,  the  hard  doctrine,  and  the 
pointed  rebuke,  and  the  distinct  condemnation,  and  the 
zeal  for  his  heavenly  Father's  honour,  which  character- 
ized the  sociality  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  will  agree  to 
love  him. 

And  I  have  not  my  eye  now  fixed  on  the  ministry 
in  its  grossest  aspect ;  a  ministry  whose  whole  piety 
is  a  kind  of  charity  that  was  not  born  in  heaven,  and 
has  neither  creed  nor  conscience.  I  do  not  associate  such 
men  with  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  in  that 
better  school,  where  truth  is  held  in  high  estimation,  and 
charity  is  not  sightless,  and  fellowship  has  gospel  bound- 
aries, it  is  feared  that  men  may  be  found  who  are  at 
great  pains  to  avoid  the  afflictions  of  the  gospel.  If  they 
speak  of  hell  it  is  with  an  apology ;  if  they  describe  a 
bad  heart,  they  "  hope  better  things  of  their  audience,'' 
and  if  they  are  driven  to  rebuke  a  vice,  they  do  it  so 
tamely  as  to  make  no  impression.  Hence  the  world  love 
them,  and  feed  them,  and  rally  round  them,  and  admire 
their  prayers,  and  their  oratory,  and  enter  into  close 
leagues  of  friendship  with  them.  But  whether  such  was 
the  character  of  It  is  ministry,  who  came  from  heaven  to 
publish  salvation,  demands  a  doubt. 

The  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  must  form  an  unpopu- 
lar character.  They  must  be  more  serious,  more  holy, 
more  circumspect,  more  watchful,  and  prayerful,  and 


222  CONCIO  AD  CLERUM. 

heavenly-minded,  than  the  world  would  choose  to  have 
them.  They  must  adhere  more  tenaciously  to  the  truth, 
to  sound  maxims  and  correct  principles,  than  other  men  ; 
must  be  emphatically  "  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal 
priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people."  The  traits 
of  character  which  the  world  are  prepared  to  eulogize, 
they  are  obligated  to  lash,  and  equally  obligated  to  have 
on  the  very  traits  that  give  the  world  offence.  They 
must  be  in  character  and  conduct  like  their  Master,  hav- 
ing a  conscience  that  will  not  bend  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  moment ;  a  sternness  of  virtue  that  cannot  allow 
iniquity  a  smile,  a  fixedness  of  sentiment  that  looks 
every  unhallowed  maxim  into  shame,  a  regard  to  the 
divine  glory  that  can  sometimes  wield  the  surge  of  re- 
buke, and  drive  iniquity  from  its  presence.  They  must 
have  on  a  holiness  of  character  that  can  move  on 
through  the  ranks  of  sin  with  unbending  course  ;  and 
command,  by  its  self-respect,  the  reverence  of  the  very 
men  who  would  exterminate  so  stern  an  integrity. 

And  the  character  they  cultivate  in  themselves  they 
must  sustain  in  others.  The  members  of  their  churches 
must  know  that  living  as  Christ  would  have  them,  they 
shall  receive  no  reproach  from  their  pastors,  for  not  be- 
coming, in  the  perverted  meaning  of  the  apostle,  all  things 
to  all  men. 

They  may  still  put  on  all  the  amiableness  of  the  gospel, 
and  show  out  the  benevolence,  the  meekness,  the  kind- 
ness, the  hospitality,  and  the  ardency  of  friendship,  that 
piety  requires ;  and,  finally,  leave  nothing  to  give  of- 
fence, but  the  sternness  of  virtue.  But  in  conjunction 
with  these,  there  must  be,  in  the  ministers  of  Jesus 
Christ,  traits  of  character,  that  the  men  of  the  world  will 
not  admire.  Hence  none  of  the  prophets,  nor  apostles, 
nor  Jesus  Christ  himself,  could  show  kindness  enough 
o  atone  to  the  world  for  their  holy  singularity.     They 


CONCIO  AD  CLERUM.  223 

partook  largely  in  the  afflictions  of  piety,  and  went 
most  of  them  to  heaven  from  the  cross,  the  sword,  or  the 
flames. 

2.  The  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  must  teach  unpopu- 
lar doctrines.  They  must  show  the  very  men  who 
feel  themselves  to  be  whole,  and  in  no  need  of  a  physi- 
cian, that  they  are  poor,  and  wretched,  and  miserable, 
and  blind,  and  naked.  They  must  exhibit  the  atone- 
ment of  Christ  to  the  very  men  who  would  perish  rather 
than  trust  in  him,  as  the  only  foundation  of  their  ever- 
lasting hopes.  The  men  who  are  prepared  to  say,  What 
lack  I  yet  ?  must  be  pressed  with  the  necessity  of  being 
born  again.  The  very  men  who  can  see  little  or  nothing 
wrong  in  their  whole  life  must  be  assured,  that  except 
they  repent  they  must  all  likewise  perish.  And  the  de- 
crees, and  the  sovereignty  of  God,  that  so  exalt  Jehovah, 
and  so  debase  the  rebel,  must  be  urged  upon  the  very  men 
who  have  so  little  confidence  in  ther  Creator,  that  they 
would  not  place  the  smallest  temporal  interest  at  his 
disposal.  And  how  can  such  doctrines  be  popular  with 
such  men  ? 

I  know  you  will  refer  me  to  facts,  and  inquire,  Why 
are  there  so  many  congregations  who  have  an  orthodox 
ministry,  and  still  all  has  been  harmony  for  half  a  cen- 
tury, while  yet  there  have  been  few  or  no  conversions  ? 
In  this  case  I  have  an  answer  that  perfectly  satisfies 
me.  The  truth  has  never  reached  the  conscience.  It 
has  been  so  tamely  exhibited,  that  men  have  slept  under 
it.  Now  it  is  the  duty  of  Christ's  ministers  to  cure  this 
insensibility,  and  in  doing  it,  just  as  sure  as  God  is  true, 
there  must  be  given  a  new  heart,  or  the  unwelcome  in- 
truder will  be  made  a  partaker  in  the  afflictions  of  the 
gospel.  Compel  a  stupid  man  to  feel  the  force  of  his  own 
creed,  and  he  will  be  as  much  offended  as  when  you 


224  CONCIO  AD  CLERUM. 

press  upon  his  conscience  doctrines  which  he  has  long 
hated,  and  long  since  discarded. 

I  know  there  is  a  ministry  which  I  dare  not  term  here- 
tical, but  which  gives  no  offence  by  its  doctrines.  The  fact 
is,  that  the  doctrines,  though  not  denied,  are  never  distinct- 
ly exhibited.  Men  care  not  what  they  hear,  nor  what 
believe,  if  they  may  be  permitted  not  to  feel  nor  act. 
Only  suffer  them  to  sleep  on,  and  you  may  lecture 
from  the  Shaster,  the  Koran,  or  the  Bible.  Let  it  suffice 
that  they  be  quiet  and  orthodox,  and  they  care  not  if  it 
be  the  quiet  of  death,  or  the  cold  orthodoxy  of  the  grave. 
But  let  the  truth  drop  from  the  lips  of  an  honest  ministry, 
and  be  pressed  home  with  energy,  upon  "  consciences 
that  have  not  been  sprinkled  from  dead  works  to  serve 
the  living  God,"  and  that  ministry  will  soon  become  con. 
versant  with  the  afflictions  of  the  gospel. 

3.  The  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  must  urge  upon  the 
world  unpopular  duties.  It  is  a  great  mistake  that 
men  are  any  less  displeased  with  the  duties  than  with 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  Let  duty  be  fully  explained, 
and  pressed  home  upon  the  conscience  with  energy,  till 
men  shall  see  no  retreat  from  its  obligations,  and  no  press 
of  doctrine,  the  most  offensive,  can  give  any  keener  pain, 
or  be  more  sure,  where  God  does  not  seal  the  word  by 
his  Spirit,  to  awaken  the  keenest  displeasure.  Make  the 
man  who  never  prays  see  the  impiety  of  his  neglect,  and 
repeat  to  him  that  note  of  alarm,  "  Pour  out  thy  fury 
upon  the  heathen,  and  upon  the  families  that  call  not 
upon  thy  name ;"  and  you  will  soon  discover  that  he 
feels  himself  as  uncomfortably  urged,  whenever  this  duty 
is  named,  as  when  a  doctrine  which  he  does  not  believe, 
or  does  not  love,  is  pressed  upon  his  faith.  Urge  upon 
the  covetous  man  the  duty  of  giving  liberally,  no  matter 
what  the  object,  and  he  will  writhe  more  under  the  press 


CONCIO  AD  CLERUM.  225 

of  this  duty,  than  when  urged  to  believe  the  most  odious 
doctrine.  Urge  home  upon  the  conscience,  no  matter 
what  duty,  that  men. are  unwilling  to  perform,  and  you 
offend  them  equally,  as  when  you  teach  a  doctrine  they 
are  reluctant  to  believe,  and  in  either  case  draw  upon 
yourself  the  afflictions  of  the  gospel. 

But  the  duty,  as  well  as  the  doctrine,  may  be  so  tame- 
ly and  so  prudently  named,  as  to  produce  no  sensa- 
tions. If  men  are  asleep,  and  you  do  not  so  lift  up  your 
voice  as  to  wake  them,  they  care  not  whether  the  babbler 
utters  a  duty  or  a  doctrine.  But  this  would  not  have 
satisfied  Paul.  If  he  might  have  preached  in  Athens 
the  true  gospel,  unmolested,  but  must  have  seen  that 
people  continue  their  idolatries,  he  would  have  felt  that 
he  was  doing  nothing.  It  is  doubted  whether  doctrine 
or  duty  was  ever  urged  home  with  gospel  energy,  but 
the  result  was,  the  believing  of  the  doctrines,  and  the 
doing  of  the  duty,  or  the  great  offence  of  the  man  upon 
whose  irritated  conscience  they  had  been  urged  with 
unwelcome  vehemency. .  Hence,  again,  the  afflictions  of 
the  gospel. 

4.  The  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  must  advocate  in  his 
Church  an  unpopular  discipline.  Here  let  us  stop  to 
solve  one  problem.  The  men  of  the  world  are  perpetually 
reproaching  professors  of  godliness  for  their  sin.  Urge 
religion  upon  them,  and  they  will  reply,  " I  am  in  as  fair 
a  way  for  heaven  as  your  Christians."  And  often  we 
find  it  no  easy  matter  to  repel  the  charge.  We  lie  down 
under  it,  and  reply,  "  Truly  there  are  men.  without  the 
pale  of  the  Church,  as  generous,  as  pitiful,  as  public 
spirited,  as  hospitable,  as  quiet,  as  peaceable,  as  kind,  as 
neighbourly,  as  some  within."  "  We  know,"  they  will 
say,  <;  that  we  do  not  pray  as  often,  as  loud,  and  as  long, 

%\ 


226  CONCIO  AD  CLERUM. 

as  some  of  your  hypocritical  professors,  but  all  this  we 
more  than  balance  by  our  other  virtues." 

Now  from  all  this  it  would  seem  their  wish,  that  the 
Church  were  more  pure.  Surely  they  would  have  re- 
formed the  very  thing  they  complain  of.  But  the  very 
moment  the  Church  commences  a  course  of  discipline, 
with  any  wayward  brother,  the  world  arms  itself  against 
all  their  efforts.  And  often  is  there  raised  without  the 
Church,  an  opposition  that  would  deter  the  Church  from 
attempting  to  purify  her  fellowship.  And  the  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  understood  to  be  on  the  side  of  the 
Church's  purity.  Hence  he  becomes  the  butt  of  rebuke, 
with  all  those  who  would  shield  the  offender  ;  and  should 
he  be  passive,  even  to  a  fault,  still  he  must  bear  the 
whole  blame  of  the  process,  and  become  often  the  scape- 
goat that  bears  away  into  the  wilderness  the  sins  of  the 
whole  brotherhood.  Thus  he  becomes  a  large  partaker 
in  the  afflictions  of  the  gospel. 

We  are  now  prepared, 

II.  To  say  that  the  exhortation  of  the  text  implies 
two  things. 

1.  That  we  so  minister  in  our  holy  office,  as  to  make 
sure  to  ourselves  all  the  trials  that  fa  it /if nines  in  a 
world  like  ours  must  incur.  We  must  form  the  very 
character  the  ungodly  disapprove,  nor  be  willing  to  lack 
its  most  odious  ingredient.  We  may  not  lay  aside  for  an 
hour,  that  sobriety,  that  spirit  of  dissent  from  error,  that 
honesty  which  holds  the  tongue  the  sure  index  of  the 
mind,  that  elevation  of  the  affections  which  shrinks  from 
a  supreme  engrossment  in  the  conversation  and  the  cares 
of  the  life  that  now  is. 

We  may  not  conceal  the  features  of  the  new  man,  and 
be  religious  in  secret  only,  or  when  in  the  company  of 
God's  people.     The  world  would  agree  to  this.     Can 


CONCIO  AD  CLERTTM.  227 

we  but  act  the  mere  gentleman  in  their  society,  and  fawn 
and  flatter  as  they  do,  and  ever  smile  and  be  happy? 
whatever  the  conversation,  or  sentiments,  or  temper,  or 
men  with  whom  we  come  in  contact,  this  would  satisfy 
them,  and  we  might  be  as  religious  as  we  please  in  our 
bed-chamber.  But  such  was  not  the  course  of  Jesus 
Christ,  nor  yet  of  Paul,  even  when  he  became  all  things 
to  all  men.  There  must  go  with  the  man  of  God,  visible 
as  the  features  of  his  face,  the  strong  outlines  of  his 
heavenly  character.  After  all  the  allowance  has  been 
made  that  can  be,  for  the  difference  of  character  and  con- 
duct that  may  exist  between  the  disciple  and  his  Lord, 
still,  in  a  world  like  ours,  all  gay,  and  thoughtless,  and 
dissipated,  we  are  obligated  to  put  on  so  much  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  wear  the  lineaments  of  his  image 
so  prominent  as  to  ensure  us  a  share  in  the  reproach 
that  fell  on  him,  and  must  help  others  to  do  the  same ; 
and  must  pour  the  whole  mass  of  our  influence  into  a 
mighty  effort  to  make  the  whole  Church  of  God  as  un- 
like the  world  as  possible. 

We  must  feel  obligated  to  draw  upon  ourselves  the  re- 
putation of  sustaining  an  unpopular  creed.  We  are  obli- 
gated, I  know,  to  give  offensive  truth  the  most  ?moffending 
aspect,  and  may  exercise  all  the  wisdom  we  can  summon 
in  descrying  the  Tempora  molia  fandl ;  but  when  all 
this  is  done,  still  the  whole  truth,  first  or  last,  must  come 
out,  fully  and  plainly,  and,  when  distinctly  seen,  will  not 
be  approved  by  ungodly  men.  And  the  odium  felt  toward 
the  truth,  will  be  promptly  transferred  to  the  man  who 
enforces  it  upon  the  irritated  conscience. 

Now  the  faithful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  may  not 
attempt  to  shun  the  trials  that  will  thus  ensue.  It  must 
be  his  wish,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  give  the  truth  all  that 


228  CONCIO  AD  CLKRTTM. 

plainness  of  exposition,  and  point  of  application,  which 
will  ensure  the  trials  that  follow.  He  may  not  keep  the 
offensive  doctrines  out  of  view,  nor  exhibit  his  creed  ob- 
scurely, nor  throw  in  any  salvo  to  prevent  the  truth  from 
taking  a  rank  hold,  or  so  conduct  that  his  daily  lightness 
shall  neutralize  his  Sabbath-day  efforts ;  else  he  wick- 
edly shuns  the  afflictions  of  the  gospel.  And  with  the 
same  decision  must  he  urge  the  unpopular  duties  of  the 
gospel.  He  may  not  keep  them  out  of  view,  nor  present 
them  obscurely,  nor  invent  excuses  for  neglecting  them, 
nor  lavish  his  smiles  upon  the  man  who  uniformly 
stands  aloof  from  them.  The  precepts  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  all  their  self-denying,  and  expensive,  and  laborious, 
and  holy,  and  unpopular  attitude,  must  be  promptly  ex- 
hibited, as  claiming  the  obedience  of  a  world.  And  the 
duties  of  the  Bible  thus  fearlessly  exhibited,  will  as  surely 
convert  men,  or  offend  them,  as  the  doctrines.  The 
matter  of  fact  is,  that  the  precepts  imply  the  doctrines, 
as  well  as  the  doctrines  the  precepts,  and  the  man  who 
urges  home  upon  the  conscience  the  hated  duty,  no  less 
than  he  who  exhibits  the  odious  creed,  must  calculate, 
unless  the  disciple  be  above  his  Lord,  to  be  a  partaker  of 
the  afflictions  of  the  gospel. 

And  he  must  be  known  to  be  the  advocate  of  a  watch- 
ful discipline  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  may  be  as 
adroit  as  possible  in  dividing  the  odium  with  the  mem- 
bers of  his  Church,  it  should  be  their  wish  to  be  partakers 
with  him,  but  when  he  has  lain  hid,  and  others  have 
operated,  as  long  as  possible,  the  hour  will  at  length 
come,  in  every  bad  case  of  discipline,  when  he  must 
have  an  opinion  of  his  own,  and  express  that  opinion 
and  make  proselytes  to  that  opinion,  and  it  will  be 
against  the  conduct  of  the  offender,  and  will  draw  upon 
him  the  odium  of  one  who  needed  the  rod  of  discipline 


CONCIO    AD  CLEKUM.  229 

to  make  him  decent.  And  the  offender  has  friends  who 
will  enlist  with  him,  and  feel  with  him,  and  hate  with 
him,  the  minister  of  Christ,  who  led  on  his  Church  to  the 
act  which  covers  the  Christian  character  of  the  offender 
with  a  cloud.  Indeed  it  would  be  wrong,  if  it  might  be 
so,  that  a  Church  of  Christ  should  bear,  without  the 
countenance  of  their  pastor,  the  reproach  of  having  ad- 
ministered a  cruel  censure  upon  a  professed  follower  of 
Jesus  Christ :  Hence  no  escape  from  the  afflictions  of  the 
gospel. 

2.  The  injunction  of  the  text  implies,  that  when  our 
brethren  in  the  ministry  have  taken  the  course  now  de- 
scribed, and  have  diuwn  upon  themselves  the  afflictions 
of  the  gospel,  westcmd  by  them,  and  defend  them,  and 
encourage  them,  and  take,  as  far  as  may  be,  a  part  of 
their  trials  upon  ourselves.  I  have  suspected  this  to  be  the 
burden  of  the  exhortation.  The  aged  apostle  exhorts 
Timothy  not  to  be  ashamed  of  the  testimony  of  the 
Lord,  or  Paul  his  prisoner,  but  to  be  a  partaker  of  the 
afflictions  of  the  gospel,  according  to  the  power  of  God, 
He  must  participate  in  the  trials  endured  by  his  Father 
in  Christ  for  his  faithfulness  in  the  dispensations  of  the 
gospel. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  the  offence  of  the  cross  has 
ceased.  I  know  that  Christ's  ministers  are  not  now  in 
danger  of  the  same  kind  of  persecutions  as  in  the  days  of 
Paul.  They  do  not  fear  dungeons,  or  fagots,  or  chains, 
or  wild  beasts,  or  the  bloody  cross.  They  may  appre- 
hend other  woes  however,  as  the  lash  of  slander,  the  want 
of  bread,  the  permanent  enjoyment  of  a  peaceful  home, 
and  the  means  of  educating  their  offspring.  And  who 
would  not  avoid  these  by  a  more  desperate  effort  than 
would  be  made  to  escape  death  itself.  1  know,  too,  that 
faith  can  lift  the  mind  above  a  host  of  trials,  and  render 

20* 


230  nONClO  AO  CLtfttTM. 

the  hour  of  desperate  onset  a  time  of  triumph,  and  make 
these  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a  moment,  issue 
in  a  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  I 
know,  too,  that  many  ministers,  not  reputed  unfaithful, 
escape  the  trials  I  speak  of.  There  are  no  pointed  ex- 
hibitions of  truth,  no  extra  efforts  to  save  men  from 
death,  no  energy  of  discipline,  nothing  to  break  in  upon 
the  dead  calm  by  which  a  multitude  of  souls  are  cradled 
into  the  profoundest  slumbers.  And  the  result  is,  no  re- 
vivals, not  much  growth  in  grace,  and,  of  course,  no 
disorder.  And  men,  under  such  a  ministry,  often  sleep 
so  sweetly,  that  any  voice  which  shall  wake  them,  even 
the  voice  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  unwelcome.  Now  such 
a  ministry,  I  know,  will  escape  trials,  and  will  need 
none  of  our  sympathy.  Pastor  and  people  will  plod  on, 
till  he  is  snatched  to  heaven,  and  they  scattered  upon  the 
mountains,  or  gathered  and  saved  at  length  under  a  bet- 
ter ministry  that  will  need  our  sympathies. 

III.  I  shall  now  offer  some  reasons  why  the  ministers 
of  Jesus  Christ  should  participate  with  their  brethren, 
in  the  afflictions  that  arise  from  a  faithful  discharge 
of  their  duty. 

1.  To  sustain  our  brethren  when  they  are  in  bonds 
for  the  gospel,  is  a  duty  we  owe  to  Jesus  Christ.  He 
sent  them  to  preach  his  gospel,  assuring  them  that  they 
went  out  as  lambs  among  wolves,  and  promised  to  be 
with  them  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.  And  he  makes 
good  his  promise,  and  is  with  them,  and  is  a  partaker  in 
all  the  afflictions  they  suffer  for  his  sake.  Would  we 
then  do  him  honour,  we  must  sustain  whom  he  sustains, 
and  sympathize  with  those  who  cannot  compromise  the 
honours  of  their  Master  to  escape  the  cross.  Permit  me 
to  say,  as  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  I  ask  of  the 
world  no  greater  honour,  than  to  be  considered  a  prompt 


CONCIO  AD  CLERUM.      *  231 

partaker  in  the  afflictions  of  every  ambassador  of  his 
who  suffers  for  his  name's  sake. 

2.  It  is  a  duty  we  owe  to  our  brethren.  If  we  are 
the  faithful  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  we  all  belong  to  the 
same  embassy,  and  are  obligated  to  kindness,  not  merely 
from  Christian  affection,  but  from  that  endeared  brother- 
hood begotten  by  the  additional  relationship  of  office. 
Hence,  with  regard  to  every  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  I 
am  bound,  cither  to  dispute  his  commission,  or  prove  him 
a  traitor  to  his  Master,  or  stay  his  hands  when  they 
hang  down.  It  was  a  law  in  Israel  that  if  a  beast  had 
fallen  under  his  burden,  one  that  was  passing  by  must 
lift  him  up  ;  what  then  are  we  not  obligated  to  do  for  our 
brethren  in  the  gospel,  when  they  faint  under  its  afflic- 
tions. 

3.  Unless  the  ambassadors  of  Jesus  Christ  sustain 
each  other,  the  influence  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  of 
course  its  usefulness,  are  greatly  diminished.  Common 
sense  declares  that  unity  is  strength.  And  each  minister 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  knows  how  his  soul  is  waked 
to  energy  by  a  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  he  is  sustained 
by  his  brethren  in  the  same  office.  And  the  men  we 
are  sent  to  save  are  the  more  prepared  to  yield  their 
hearts  and  their  deportment  to  the  influence  of  truth, 
when  they  see  it  brought  to  them  by  a  united  band  ; 
having  all  one  commission,  and  one  Master,  and  one 
creed,  and  one  heart.  It  then  comes  like  the  overtures  of 
peace,  brought  not  by  a  single  ambassador,  but  by  the 
general  of  an  army.  Then  the  commission  is  respected, 
and  the  overtures  receive  prompt  and  serious  attention. 

4.  Not  a  few  of  God's  ministers  have  quit  the  work 
and  others  in  the  hour  of  conflict  have  looked  about  them 
for  some  other  employment,  because  they  conceived  that 
they  were  not  'promptly  siistained  by  their  brethren. 


232  CONCIO  AD  CLERTJM. 

They  had  been  given  a  stubborn  field  to  cultivate,  all 
grown  over  with  thorns  and  briars,  and  they  laboured 
till  they  had  richly  earned  the  confidence  of  those  who 
had  occupied  a  less  stubborn  and  more  fruitful  section  of 
the  vineyard ;  but  at  length  they  became  wearied  with 
perpetual  effort,  and  finally  quit  the  field.  And  it  is 
a  query  worth  our  attention,  whether  a  little  timely 
help,  wTould  not  have  kept  them  in  the  work,  and  render- 
ed them  immensely  useful,  while  now  they  are  at  some 
other  service,  and  must  die  out  of  the  vineyard.  And 
there  are  probably  many  at  this  very  moment  look- 
ing about  them  for  a  school,  secretaryship,  or  professor- 
ship, or  a  clerkship,  by  which  they  may  earn  a  piece  of 
bread  for  their  children.  And  this  at  the  very  moment 
when  we  are  making  every  possible  effort  to  send  forth 
more  labourers  into  the  vineyard.  Now,  why  not  make 
some  effort  to  sustain  those  already  at  the  work,  and  by 
partaking  in  their  afflictions  wake  them  to  renewed  en- 
terprise, and  a  far  more  extended  usefulness  ? 

If  any  who  have  been  commissioned  are  unworthy, 
then  publish  their  character,  and  send  them  back  to  the 
plough,  and  the  residue  sustain.  Shall  those  who  are 
happily  located  fear  injury  to  themselves,  if  they  speak 
a  kind  word  in  behalf  of  some  afflicted  brother.  I  will 
not  allow  myself  to  believe  that  the  legate  of  the  skies  can 
act  from  a  motive  so  contracted.  I  will  rather  believe 
that  depression  of  mind,  under  long  protracted  trials,  has 
begotten  in  the  minds  of  some  good  men  the  false  im- 
pression that  they  were  not  duly  sustained  in  their  con- 
flicts. And  I  will,  in  the  mean  time,  place  high  in  hon- 
our those  noble  men  who  have  earned  and  obtained  the 
reputation  of  strengthening  the  weak  hands,  and  con- 
firming the  feeble  knees,  and  who  have  ventured  to  say 
to  the  fearful  heart,  Be  strong,  fear  not.     They  have 


CONCIO  AD  CLERUM. 


233 


kept  many  a  good  man  in  the  field,  and  thus  have  virtu- 
ally made  more  ministers  than  many  who  have  pleaded 
eloquently  the  cause  of  charitable  education.  "These 
ought  ye  to  have  done,  but  not  to  have  left  the  others 
undone."  Said  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision,  after 
giving  us  a  catalogue  of  his  afflictions,  "  Who  is  weak, 
and  I  am  not  weak  1  who  is  offended,  and  I  burn  not  ?  " 
This,  it  seems,  was  the  lesson  which  his  own  trials  had 
taught  him. 

Finally,  brethren,  feel  not  that  the  subject  was  an 
unnecessary  exposure  of  ministerial  weakness.  We 
shall  not  give  the  churches  confidence  in  us,  by  showing 
them  that  we  have  little  confidence  in  one  another.  We 
shall  not  bless  them,  by  neglecting  and  despising  those  in 
the  ministry  who  suffer  till  they  abandon  the  brother- 
hood, and  go  back  into  the  world  to  get  their  bread. 
The  desperate  enemies  of  God,  who  are  quarrelling  with 
their  minister  because  he  has  ventured  to  tell  them  the 
whole  truth,  may  be  glad  if  we  will  leave  him  unsus- 
tained,  till  they  can  devour  him.  But  the  good  sense  of 
God's  people,  and  of  all  generous,  noble-minded  men, 
will  love  and  honour  us  the  more,  the  stronger  is  that  li- 
gature that  binds  together  the  hearts  of  God's  ministers. 


A  SERMON, 


DELIVERED  IN 


NEW-JERSEY,  AT  THE  RISING  OF  THE   SUN, 


FOURTH    OF   JULY,    1814; 

IN  A  TIME  OF   GREAT  AND  GENERAL  INTEREST    ON 
THE   SUBJECT  OF  RELIGION. 

Intended  to  prevent  the  usual  desecration  of  the  day. 


SERMON    LVI. 

THE   MERCIES    OF    GOD    NOT    OBEDIENTLY 
RECIPROCATED. 

Isaiah  i.  2. 

Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  O  earth  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  ;  I  have 

nourished  and  brought  up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me. 

How  provoking  is  the  sin  of  ingratitude!  Among 
men  it  is  considered  unpardonable,  while  every  other 
crime  is  forgiven.  To  be  ungrateful  argues  a  want  of 
ingenuousness,  of  which  even  the  most  ungrateful  are 
not  willing  to  be  accused.  And  can  we  wonder  that 
pride  takes  the  alarm,  when  a  charge  is  brought  that 
argues  baseness,  not  to  be  found  in  the  herd  of  the  stall. 

The  descendants  of  Abraham,  to  whom  the  prophet 
refers,  furnish  us  a  long  history  of  ingratitude.  God  had 
so  distinguished  them  as  to  render  them  eternal  debtors 
to  his  mercy,  but  they  rebelled  against  him.  He  called 
Abraham  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  a  land  of  dark  idola- 
try, gave  him  a  large  posterity,  and  made  them  the  ob- 
jects of  his  peculiar  care.  When  oppressed  with  famine, 
the  king  of  Egypt  must  feed  them.  When  enslaved, 
God  raised  them  up  a  deliverer,  who  brought  them  out 
with  triumph.  He  bade  the  waves  of  the  sea  roll  back 
and  leave  them  a  passage,  and  return  to  discomfit  their 
foes.  He  miraculously  clothed,  fed,  and  guided  them 
forty  years.  He  then  divided  Jordan,  and  introduced 
them  into  a  beautiful  country,  which,  being  watered 

21 


238  THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 

with  enriching  clews  and  timely  showers,  furnished 
them  all  that  heart  could  wish.  To  give  them  room 
he  "  drove  out  the  heathen  with  his  hand."  They  had 
riches,  honours,  pleasures,  and  health.  God  delivered 
to  them  his  word,  called  them  his  children,  and  placed 
in  their  magnificent  temple  the  symbol  of  his  presence. 

When  the  ten  tribes  revolted  from  the  house  of  David, 
and  were  abandoned  to  dispersion  and  slavery,  he  still 
kept  his  eye  on  Judah.  He  gave  them  wise  kings, 
faithful  prophets,  and  a  mild  and  happy  government. 
Still  had  they  the  means  of  knowing  the  mind  of  God. 
They  had  their  temple,  their  high  priest,  their  holy 
altar,  and  their  daily  sacrifice.  For  many  years  they 
sat  under  their  vines  and  fig-trees,  and  none  made  them 
afraid. 

Thus  God  nourished  and  brought  them  up  as  chil- 
dren. Had  he  not  a  right  to  expect  their  obedience? 
Was  it  not  enough  to  astonish  heaven  and  earth,  to  see 
it  withheld  1  Can  we,  without  amazement,  be  told, 
that  in  contempt  of  all  this  succession  of  mercies,  that 
people  made  them  other  gods,  and  bowed  to  images 
which  themselves  had  carved?  They  imprisoned  their 
prophets,  profaned  their  temple,  hardened  their  hearts, 
and  generated  a  posterity  prepared  to  embrue  their  hands 
in  the  blood  of  Christ.  All  this  mischief  achieved  by 
that  people,  God  resolved  to  destroy ;  but  first  com- 
mands heaven  and  earth  to  listen  to  the  story  of  their 
apostacy  :  "  Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  O  earth  ; 
for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  ;  I  have  nourished  and  brought 
up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me." 

How  aptly  does  this  whole  history  apply  to  us !  If 
JudalVs  ingratitude  has  ever  been  mir passed — if  it  has 
ever  been  equalled,  it  has  been  in  America.  While 
attending  to  this  short  history,  you  have  been  making 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED.  239 

the  comparison  between  that  nation  and  ours.  We 
have  been  nurtured  with  the  same  fatherly  care,  and 
have  been  equally  rebellious. 

In  pursuing  the  subject,  I  shall  follow  the  natural 
division  of  the  text,  and  show,  first,  that  God  has 
nourished  and  brought  us  up  as  children,  and  se- 
condly, that  we  have  rebelled  against  him. 

I.  I  am  to  show  that  God  has  nourished  and  brought 
us  up  as  children.  A  kind  parent  aims  to  promote  the 
best  good  of  his  children,  and  to  this  point  bends  every 
effort.  So  the  dealings  of  God  with  us  have  been  cal- 
culated to  promote  our  best  good.  "  He  hath  not  dealt 
so  with  any"  other  "  nation."  In  proof  of  this  assertion 
we  have  only  to  look  at  facts.  Is  it  asked,  Wherein  has 
God  given  us  proof  of  paternal  affection  ?  I  answer, 

1.  In  preparing  us  such  a  goodly  land.  It  is  believed 
that  no  portion  of  the  globe  is  to  the  same  extent,  so 
fertile,  healthful,  and  pleasant  as  the  United  States 
of  America. 

Our  soil  is  fertile.  Hardly  does  any  land  furnish  its 
inhabitants  comfort  or  luxury  that  ours  does  not  yield 
for  us.  Our  vallies  wave  with  corn,  our  hills  are  white 
with  harvests,  and  our  very  mountains,  to  their  highest 
cliffs,  feed  our  flocks.  Till  God  shall  become  angry, 
and  shall  forbid  the  showers  to  enrich  our  fields,  we 
never  need  be  dependant  for  our  bread  or  clothing  on 
any  other  nation.  What  one  region  of  our  country  does 
not  produce,  grows  abundantly  in  some  other. 

And  we  draw  sustenance  from  our  bays  and  rivers. 
Thus  were  "  the  fields  to  yield  no  meat,  and  should  the 
herd  be  cut  off  from  the  stall,"  we  should  be  stili  sup- 
plied. On  this  point  every  reasonable  desire  is  satisfied, 
and  every  ground  of  fear  removed. 

To  fertility  God  has  added  beauty.     Ours  is  all 


240  THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 

that  rich  variety  of  scenery  which  can  please  the  eye  or 
charm  the  heart.  Our  extensive  plains,  encircled  with 
cultivated  hills,  watered  with  meandering  streams,  and 
opening  upon  the  traveller  as  he  reaches  the  eminence, 
afford  prospects  the  most  enchanting.  If  any  douht 
whether  our  land  is  beautiful,  ask  the  Christian,  who, 
in  some  favoured  hour,  ascended  the  mountain,  and  felt 
his  soul  rise  from  the  broad-spread  landscape  to  the  God 
who  planned  and  built  the  scene  ; — ask  him  if  "  our 
lines  have"  not  "fallen  to  us  in  pleasant  places."  Ask 
he  mariner,  who  has  been  shipwrecked  upon  the  coast 
of  Africa,  and  has  seen  the  sable  tribes  making  a  deli- 
cious meal  on  reptiles — ask  him  if  we  have  not  a  goodly 
heritage.  Ask  the  traveller  who  has  scorched  his  feet  in 
Arabian  deserts,  and  has  climbed  the  Ararat,  if  the  ten- 
der mercies  of  the  Lord  to  us  are  not  great.  Ask  one, 
if  you  please,  who  has  seen  the  lawns  and  parks  of  po- 
lished Europe,  if  nature  has  not  furnished  our  America 
with  richer  lawns  and  nobler  parks.  Will  it  not  excite 
gratitude  to  compare  our  country  in  point  of  beauty^ 
with  any  region  of  the  globe  ?  What  was  once  said  of 
England  is  more  true  of  America.  "  It  is  a  paradise  of 
pleasure,  the  garden  of  God.  Our  vales  are  like  Eden, 
our  hills  as  Lebanon,  our  springs  as  Pisgah,  our  rivers 
as  Jordan,  our  walls  the  ocean,  and  our  defence  the 
Lord  Jehovah." 

Nor  is  any  portion  of  the  globe,  to  the  same  extent, 
more  healthful.  From  the  eternal  snows  of  the  north, 
and  from  the  sultry  heats  and  deadly  blasts  of  the  south, 
we  are  well  removed.  The  longevity  of  our  grand  pa- 
rents, recorded  on  yonder  tomb-stones  ;  the  many  in  our 
assembly  to-day,  on  whom  is  seen  the  blossom  of  the 
almond-tree,  bear  witness  that  God  has  blessed  with 
health  and  long  life,  his  American  Israel.     The  num- 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED.  241 

bers  who  can  be  spared  from  the  sick  and  dying  bed,  to 
wait  on  God  this  morning  in  this  house,  bear  testimony 
to  the  salubritry  of  our  clime.  Yes,  God  has  fraught 
every  gale  with  life,  and  has  wafted  health  to  us  in  every 
breeze.  The  effects  of  his  bounty  are  seen  in  every 
countenance,  and  felt  in  every  nerve. 

In  all  this  God  has  acted  the  part  of  a  kind  Father ; 
has  nourished  and  brought  us  up  as  children.  The  land 
of  Canaan,  although  described  as  flowing  with  mik  and 
honey,  was  not  a  better  land.  Nor  will  God  demand 
less  of  us,  than  of  Israel.  He  charges  us  with  every 
field,  every  spring,  and  every  river.  He  notes  against 
us  every  shower  that  falls  upon  our  hills,  and  every  dew 
drop  that  moistens  the  vales. 

2.  There  was  a  display  of  God's  parental  affection  in 
giving  us  existence  in  this  favoured  land.  Long  had  it 
been  the  lonely  haunt  of  savages.  Our  forefathers  were 
natives  of  other  realms,  realms  now  perhaps  in  ruins.  If 
God  had  not  intended  to  be  a  father  to  us,  we  might  theie 
have  been  born,  and  there  have  lived,  in  the  midst  of 
oppression,  tears,  and  blood.  We  might  have  been  forced 
into  those  armies,  which  have  perished  on  the  plains  of 
Europe,  stiffened  with  December's  frosts,  or  fattening 
the  soils  with  their  blood.  But  God  had  kindnesses 
in  store  for  us,  and  bid  our  fathers  fly  to  some  other 
land. 

But  whither  could  they  fly?  When  they  first  began 
to  feel  oppression,  America  was  unknown  in  Europe.  It 
had  lain  hid  beyond  a  vast  expanse  of  trackless  ocean, 
ever  since  it  sprang  from  chaos.  True,  it  had  been 
visited,  but  from  its  dreary  bourne,  no  one  had  returned 
to  bear  tidings.  Driven  before  the  eastern  tornado,  the 
wretched  had  known  its  rocky  shores  as  the  place  of  their 
.midnight  shipwreck ;  else  unknown.     But  Divine  GoodV 

21* 


242  THE  MERCIES  Of  GOO 

ness,  which  had  long  kept  it  in  reserve  for  us,  raised  it 
into  view,  just  at  the  moment  when  oppression  was  pre- 
paring our  fathers  to  wish  and  pray  for  some  asylum 
where  they  and  their  children  might  be  free.  The  im- 
mortal Columbus  sought  our  shores.  Our  ancestors 
followed  him,  under  the  same  Divine  escort.  And  here 
we  are  this  morning  in  a  land  of  plenty,  health,  and 
freedom. 

My  hearers,  do  you  not  feel  that  God  was  kind  in 
all  this  ?  Think  then  of  the  millions,  who  are  this  day 
miserably  poor,  on  that  ground  where  we  might  have 
been  wretched  paupers,  if  our  forefathers  had  remained 
at  home.  Think  of  Europe's  precious  youth  who  have 
been  lately  torn  from  home  in  their  tender  years,  to  man 
the  navy  and  fill  the  armies.  Think  of  the  fathers,  who 
now  need  sons  to  prop  their  age,  but  have  lost  them  in 
battle.  Ah  !  and  mothers,  more  helpless  still,  without  a 
child  remaining  to  solace  their  widowhood.  See  that  band 
of  females !  they  have  been  to  the  shore  to  salute  their  hus- 
bands but  they  return  in  despair  ;  their  husbands  have 
fallen  in  the  field.*  Think  of  the  pleasant  cottages 
wrapped  in  flames  by  the  torches  of  a  desolating  army. 
Recollect  the  sufferings  of  that  little  Swiss  Republic,  to 
whom  liberty  was  so  dear,  that  mothers  left  their  infants 
under  the  oak,  and  fought  and  fell  by  the  side  of  their 
husbands.  While  humanity  bleeds  over  these  scenes  of 
distress,  let  piety  raise  to  heaven  a  tearful  eye,  and  say, 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me 
bless  his  holy  name.'' 

3.  As  a  parent  his  children,  the  Lord  has  instructed 
us.     We  were  from  infancy  taught  to  read  the  Scrip- 

*  A  scene  actually  witnessed  Dot  lone;  since  in  England,  on  the  re- 
turn from  Spain  of  a  remnant  of  Lord  Wellington's  army. 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED.  243 

tures,  and  were  early  placed  under  the  droppings  of  the. 
sanctuary.  Many  of  us  have  been  devoted  to  God 
in  baptism,  and  have  thus  been  made  members  of  the 
school  of  Christ.  Pious  parents  have  whispered  truth  in 
our  ears.  Ever  have  we  had,  line  upon  line,  and  pre- 
cept upon  precept.  In  no  other  quarter  of  the  globe 
have  all  classes  the  means  of  instruction.  And  in  this 
matter  has  not  the  Lord  been  a  kind  Father  ?  If  a 
doubt  remains,  think  of  those  crowds  of  Papists,  who, 
through  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures,  pray  to  departed 
saints,  and  tender  gold  for  the  pardon  of  sin  !  See 
those  hordes  of  Mahometans,  stupid  as  the  beast,  till 
their  infuriated  passions  arouse  them  to  spill  a  brother's 
blood.  Think  of  the  millions  of  Pagan  tribes,  who  to 
this  day  worship  a  block  of  wood.  Yes,  think  of  the 
hundreds  of  millions,  who  never  saw  a  Bible,  who 
never  enjoyed  a  Sabbath,  and  to  whom  no  kind  angel  of 
mercy  ever  carried  proffers  of  pardon.  Think  of  these 
things,  and  you  cannot  doubt  the  fatherly  kindness  of 
God  in  providing  for  our  instruction. 

4.  God  has  exercised  parental  love  in  defending  our 
country  in  times  of  d  tnger.  Our  whole  history,  from 
the  first  landing  of  our  forefathers,  is  but  one  continued, 
affecting  account  of  God's  care  of  them  and  us.  When 
that  first  ship  brought  that  little  band  of  persecuted 
Christians,  and  landed  them,  in  the  midst  of  winter,  on 
Plymouth's  bleak,  inhospitable  coast, — when  they  there 
kindled  their  first  fire,  amidst  howlinj  beasts  and  yelling 
savages, — when  they  there  fell  on  their  knees,  and  to 
heaven  raised  their  eyes,  streaming  with  tears, — when 
they  covered  their  little  babes  with  the  leaves  blown  from 
the  trees  of  autumn,  and  stationed  a  sentinel  to  watch  the 
foe  ;  how  could  it  be  doubted  but  they  would  be  driven 
from  the  land  they  had  reached  1     Who  could  have  pre- 


244  THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 

dieted,  or  would  have  dared  to  hope,  that  God  would 
soon  give  them  peaceable  possession  of  all  this  extensive 
country  ? 

And  afterward,  when  the  savage  band  conspired  to  de- 
stroy that  little  company  of  strangers,—  when  the  scalp- 
ing knife  wras  raised  over  the  slumbers  of  the  cradle, — 
when  the  savage  yell  disturbed  the  midnight  dream,  and 
the  angry  flames  were  consuming  the  little  thatched 
hovels  where  our  mothers  slept,  who  could  have  thought 
that  God  intended  so  soon  to  give  the  word,  and  bid 
those  savages  retire  to  the  western  forests? — who  could 
have  believed,  or  dreamed,  that  those  miserable  hovels 
would  in  a  few  years  be  exchanged  for  these  beautiful 
mansions  which  now  adorn  our  land  ? 

And  when,  afterward,  the  merciless  Frenchmen  bore 
down  upon  us  from  the  north,  and  in  the  west  hired 
against  us  the  bloody  tomahawk, — when  their  ships  of 
war  covered  our  lakes,  and  spread  destruction  along  our 
Atlantic  shores,  and  the  savage  band  broke  in  upon  our 
frontiers,  each  pressed  on  by  infernal  fury  ;  who  could 
have  thought  that  heaven  designed,  by  this  war,  to  pre- 
pare us  for  future  conflicts,  and  raise  us  up  an  immortal 
Washington  to  be  the  future  saviour  of  our  country. 

And  when,  at  length,  the  very  land  that  gave  us  birth 
became  hostile ; — when  her  floating  purgatories  thun- 
dered on  our  coast,  and  burned  our  cities,  and  her  hard 
hearted  veterans  were  ravaging  our  country,  stripping 
our  fathers  of  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  our  mothers  of 
their  well-earned  food,  and  of  the  couch  on  which  they 
dared  not  rest,  and  could  not  sleep : — when  at  length 
we  were  forced  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  sword,  and  our 
little  companies  of  undisciplined  troops  were  rallying 
round  their  General ; — when  our  fathers  began  to  fall  in 
•the  high  places  of  the  field,  and  our  mothers,  with  some 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED.  245 

of  us  infants  in  their  arms,  fled  from  the  foe,  and  saw 
him  burn  their  dwellings ; — when  at  length  the  temples 
of  the  living  God  were  converted  into  barracks,  profaned 
with  the  soldier's  oath,  and  dissipated  night  with  their 
blazing  spires ; — when  the  meek  ambassador  of  the 
cross*  must  die  for  loving  his  country,  and  for  wishing  to 
be  free ;  and  when  all  hearts  began  to  ache  and  to  bleed, 
and  Heaven  had  not  yet  begun  to  give  us  the  victory, — 
in  this  trying  hour,  who  would  have  thought  that  God 
intended  so  soon  to  deliver  us  from  the  oppressive  yoke 
of  our  parent  country,  and  make  us  an  independent  and 
happy  republic. 

While  we  look  round  us,  and  see  some  present,  who 
still  wear  the  scars  they  received  in  that  perilous  hour, 
we  feel  emotions  of  gratitude  which  we  cannot  suppress. 
Yes,  fathers !  while  we  bless  God  for  being  our  rock 
of  defence  in  the  desperate  hour,  we  thank  you  for  the 
efforts  you  made  to  earn  and  deliver  to  us  the  fair  inherit- 
ance of  freedom.  We  never  will,  no  never !  forget  your 
toils  and  dangers.  We  will  cherish  you  in  your  decli- 
ning years,  and  when  you  are  dead,  we  will  lead  our 
infant  children  to  your  graves,  and  tell  them  the  history 
of  your  sufferings  in  the  cause  of  freedom.  But,  fathers, 
while  we  thank  you  that  you  fought  in  Israel's  hosts,  we 
entreat  you  to  love  Israel's  God.  And  ye  aged  mothers, 
you  fled  with  us  from  the  malice  of  the  foe :  O  !  flee  with 
us  from  the  wrath  to  come  ! 

Here  I  could  stay  and  mention  other  mercies  till  the 
sun  had  gone  down.  God  has  given  us  a  happier  form 
of  government  than  is  now  enjoyed  in  any  other  portion 
of  the  globe.  Life,  property,  and  the  rights  of  conscience 
are  secure.  Parents  are  not  constrained  to  send  their 
children,  at  the  call  of  a  tyrant,  to  be  trained  up  to  the 

Mr.  Caldwell,  of  Elizabeth-Town. 


246 


THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 


art  of  murder.  As  yet  we  have  suffered  but  little  by  the 
present  distressing-  war.  The  foe  has  destroyed  others  ; 
fellow-citizens  have  spilt  their  blood  in  the  field,  and 
others  have  lost  their  all,  while  we  are  unmolested.  Nor 
have  we  felt  the  distresses  of  famine.  The  poorest 
among  us  have  bread,  while,  in  our  world,  and  doubtless 
in  some  parts  of  our  land,  there  are  those  who  are  desti- 
tute. God  has  kept  us  too  from  those  plagues  and 
pestilences  which  have  desolated  other  countries.  Our 
breezes  are  yet  laden  with  health.  O  how  good  is  the 
Lord  ! 

And  we  could  tell  of  individual  blessings.  God  has 
guarded  our  lives.  In  the  midst  of  a  thousand  snares 
we  have  been  safely  kept.  Who  can  say  why  we  have- 
not  been  numbered  among  the  millions  dead,  or  the 
thousands  now  in  the  agonies  of  dissolution.  Every  day 
and  every  hour  have  our  lives  been  forfeited.  If  God 
had  bidden  us  die  any  morning  or  any  evening,  he  had 
still  been  just  and  good.  But  he  yet  allows  our  blood  to 
flow  warm  in  our  veins,  and  the  heart  to  beat  high  with 
life  in  our  bosoms.  In  all  this  how  strong  a  testimony  of 
the  divine  goodness  ! 

Bat  our  wonder  must  increase.  God  has  not  only 
spared  us.  and  defended  us  from  harm,  but  has  with  his 
bounty  rendered  our  lives  comfortable  and  happy.  We 
have  been  surrounded  with  every  thing  that  could  sweet- 
en life.  Our  friends  have  smiled  upon  us  and  loved 
us.  "  God  has  fed  us  with  the  finest  of  wheat,  and  with 
the  honey  out  of  the  rock  has  he  satisfied  us."  We  have 
sat  peaceably  in  our  dwellings,  and  have  seen  the  rich 
harvests  ripening  in  our  fields,  while  other  dwellings  have 
resounded  with  dying  groans,  and  other  fields  have  been 
fattened  with  human  gore.  Thus  God  has  employed 
his  wisdom  and  power  in  making  rebels  happy.     If  all 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED.  247 

this  does  not  excite  our  gratitude,  the  beasts  of  the  stall 
will  find  a  tongue  to  reproach  us  :  for  "  the  ox  knoweth 
his  owner,  and  the  ass  his. master's  crib." 

But,  to  crown  our  other  mercies,  to  blacken  our  in- 
gratitude, and  raise  our  wonder  to  its  climax,  God  offers 
us  eternal  life  through  his  Son.  We  are  pressed  with 
the  obligations  of  dying  love.  The  Holy  Spirit,  with 
kind  intent,  has  come  down  among  us.  Through  all 
the  past  year  he  has  been  knocking  at  the  door  of  some 
of  our  hearts.  And  perhaps  many  present  have  contin- 
ued to  reject  his  kindest  entreaties.  And  still  divine 
compassion  waits  to  save. 

Thus  after  our  cup  has  run  over  with  earthly  bless- 
ings, God  has  opened  to  us  all  the  treasures  of  heaven. 
First  he  fills  our  table  with  his  fruits,  and  his  wines,  and 
then  invites  us  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb. 
Here  is  unparalleled  benevolence.  No  world  has  known 
the  like.  The  angels  have  seen  nothing  like  it  in  heav- 
en, devils  have  heard  of  nothing  like  it  in  hell.  That 
God  should  be  kind  to  the  good  is  to  be  expected  ;  but 
that  infinite  wisdom  and  love  should  exhaust  their  skill 
to  make  a  rebel  happy,  is  enough  to  excite  wonder  in  the 
breast  of  Gabriel. 

Having  thus  nourished  and  brought  us  up  as  children, 
had  not  the  Lord  a  right  to  expect  obedience  ?  Are  we 
not  the  basest  of  creatures  if  we  do  not  love  and  serve 
him  ?  I  appeal  to  conscience,  which  God  has  placed  as 
his  witness,  in  your  bosom.  What  demand  does  that 
messenger  of  heaven  make  upon  you  to-day  ?  Should 
not  the  passing  hours  be  spent  in  God's  praise  ?  If 
otherwise  employed,  will  not  the  God  of  Israel  be  angry  ? 
And  yet  we  know  that  none  will  give  him  praise  but 
those  who  love  him.     All  others  will  profane  this  day, 


248  THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 

and  thus  provoke  his  wrath.  I  proceed  to  the  other  part 
of  my  subject. 

II.  While  God  has  been  exhibiting  all  this  parental 
affection,  we  have  rebelled  against  him.  Every  breach 
of  God's  law,  every  departure  from  duty,  every  unholy 
affection  and  improper  action  is  rebellion.  In  our  case, 
as  in  that  of  Judah,  when  God  complained  by  the  pro- 
phet, we  exhibit  degeneracy  as  well  as  rebellion.  We 
have  departed  from  the  piety  and  rectitude  of  our  fore- 
fathers. I  shall  at  present  mention  some  of  the  prevail- 
ing sins  of  our  land,  by  which  it  is  manifest  that  we  are 
both  a  degenerate  and  rebellions  people.  And  while  I 
proceed,  every  one  must  allow  his  conscience  to  do  its 
office.  It  is  to  no  purpose  that  the  gospel  is  preached, 
unless  the  truth  is  felt. 

The  first  sin  1  mention  as  proving  our  degeneracy 
and  rebellion,  is  the  want  of  family  religion  in  our 
land :  instance  family  prayer.  While  we  are  com- 
manded to  pray  with  all  manner  of  prayer,  lifting  up 
holy  hands  to  God,  many  families  entirely  neglect  the 
duty.  From  no  domestic  altar  ascends  their  morning 
and  evening  sacrifice.  They  rise  with  the  sun,  and  ad- 
dress themselves  to  the  business  of  the  day,  without 
asking  God  to  watch  or  guide  them.  I  fear  some  of  my 
hearers  did  not  pray  in  their  families  this  morning.  God 
only  knows.  And  no  doubt  as  many  will  retire  this 
evening,  without  thanking  God  for  preserving  goodness, 
or  engaging  any  heavenly  guard  to  watch  the  sleeping 
pillow.  Now  if  parents  do  not  pray  in  their  furni lies, 
we  cannot  hope  that  they  do  it  in  their  closets.  That 
parent  who  finds  secret  prayer  delightful,  will  endeavour 
by  example  to  teach  his  children  prayer.  It  is  reported 
that  some  professors  of  religion  have  no  prayer  in  their 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED.  249 

families,  and  ask  no  blessing  over  their  food.  Some  are 
said  to  pray  only  on  the  Sabbath,  and  ask  a  blessing 
ovTer  one  meal  in  the  day.  Why  not,  with  the  same 
propriety,  pray  once  in  the  year,  and  ask  only  an  an- 
nual blessing  over  the  ingathered  harvest?  This  would 
cut  the  business  short. 

In  this  point  we  have  degenerated.  It  is  said  that 
among  our  forefathers  there  was  no  family  without  a 
domestic  altar,  no  little  helpless  immortals  without  a 
father's  prayers.  They  partook  not  of  the  Divine  boun- 
ty till  they  had  blessed  the  Giver.  Could  they  return 
they  would  blush  to  own  their  offspring. 

How  can  the  Chistian  neglect  duties  so  plain  ?  How 
can  the  father,  whose  title  implies  the  warmest  affection, 
let  his  children  retire  at  night,  till  he  has  committed  them 
to  the  care  of  God  ?  If  neglected  by  the  father,  how 
can  the  mother,  a  name  yet  more  tender,  lay  her  little 
ones  upon  their  pillows,  till  she  has  put  them  under  the 
care  of  the  watchman  of  Israel.  How  do  careless  pa- 
rents know  that  their  children  will  live  till  the  morning? 
And  should  they  die  on  that  night,  when  they  were  not 
the  subjects  of  parental  prayer,  how  must  those  parents 
feel  ?  With  what  heart-rending  anguish  must  they  con- 
vey their  bodies  to  the  grave.  The  neglect  of  this  duty 
in  particular,  and  of  family  religion  in  general,  is  doubt- 
less a  crying  sin,  which  proves  our  apostacy  and  rebel- 
lion, and  must  draw  down  Divine  judgments. 

2.  Another  common  sin,  equally  manifesting  degene- 
racij  and  rebellion,  is  the  neglect  of  discipline  in  families 
and  churches.  Many  families  have  no  government. 
The  children  never  feel  restraint,  and  so  never  learn  obe- 
dience. The  consequence  is,  they  often  despise  their 
parents,  and  prove  scourges  to  society.  The  world  is  the 
loser  by  their  existence.     They  live  only  to  cumber  the 

22 


250  THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 

ground,  and  reproach  their  parents.  How  ashamed 
ought  parents  to  be  of  such  children!  and  how  afraid 
should  society  be  of  such  parents  ! 

In  Churches  the  same  neglect  of  discipline  prevails. 
Some,  who  have  no  pretensions  to  heart  religion,  are 
admitted  to  the  communion.  Many  are  seen  there  who 
are  not  moral.  Yes  !  the  lips  of  profaneness  touch  the 
symbols  of  a  dying  Christ !  Hands  polluted  with  the 
intoxicating  bowl,  and  trembling  under  its  dire  effects,  are 
moved  to  the  sacred  cup  !  The  scorner,  in  many  places, 
takes  his  seat  among  the  followers  of  the  Lamb !  The 
very  disciples  of  Iscariot,  who  envy  Jesus  a  throne  with 
the  Father,  and  would  pluck  every  gem  from  his  crown  ; 
who  trample  upon  truth  ;  and  would  gladly  extirpate 
the  Church,  or  at  least  kindle  a  hell  in  her  bosom — these 
come  forward,  with  a  brazen  front,  and  commemorate  the 
dying  love  of  Christ !  Were  He  to  come  and  put  himself 
again  in  the  power  of  sinners,  would  not  many  of  our  com- 
municants leave  the  sacrament  and  go  to  crucify  him?  In 
the  days  of  our  forefathers,  there  was  not  this  want  of 
discipline.  Every  family  was  a  little  Church,  in  which 
pious  parents  bent  every  effort  to  make  their  children 
like  themselves.  Departure  from  duty  met  reproof.  The 
child  who  would  disobey  a  parent,  disrespect  superiors, 
disturb  devotion,  or  profane  the  Name  of  God,  would 
meet  the  frowns  of  his  play-fellows. 

The  church-member  who  walked  disorderly  was  re- 
proved, and  at  once  either  reclaimed  or  cut  off.  None 
came  to  the  Lord's  table,  who  were  not  strictly  moral  and 
hopefully  pious.  They  had  no  idea,  in  those  days,  that 
unrenewed  men  had  any  right  to  the  children's  bread.  If 
they  were  correct,  we  are  degenerate.  It  would  be  hap- 
py for  the  Church  and  the  world,  if  that  golden  age 
could  return.     And  return  it  must ;  discipline  must  be 


NOT   OBEDIENTLY    RECIPROCATED.  251 

administered,  before  there  will  be  a  reformation  of  morals, 
or.  any  extensive  revival  of  religion  in  our  land.  And 
have  we  not  reason  to  believe  that  a  reformation  in  this 
matter  must  precede  the  removal  of  those  judgments 
which  we  begin  to  feel.  If  God  frowned  because  he 
disapproved,  why  smile  till  he  approve  ? 

3.  The  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  is  another  general 
sin,  proving  us  degenerate  and  rebellious.  Once  that 
day  was  respected  in  America.  The  man  who  did  not 
regard  the  Sabbath  was  not  esteemed.  The  person  who 
walked  the  streets  on  that  day,  unless  to  or  from  the 
house  of  God,  was  considered  a  disturber  of  the  public 
peace.*  Then  the  waterman  anchored  his  vessel  in  the 
harbour,  till  the  hours  of  Sabbath  were  by  ;  the  travel- 
ler delayed  his  journey,  and  the  young  laid  aside  their 
pastimes.  Now  the  sailor  begins  his  voyage,  the  traveller 
pursues  his  journey,  young  men  their  pleasures,  and 
children  their  sports  on  that  sacred  day.  On  many 
public  streets  the  way  to  the  temple  is  obstructed  with 
teams,  and  as  you  enter  the  very  doors  of  the  sanctuary, 
your  ears  are  assailed  with  the  oaths  of  the  heaven- 
abandoned  teamsters.  The  inn-keeper  and  his  family 
can  never  hear  the  gospel ;  they  might  as  well  live  in 
India :  they  must  be  at  home  to  serve  the  Sabbath- 
breaker.  In  many  parts  of  our  land  the  evening  of  the 
Sabbath  is  not  regarded. 

And  there  are  none  who  dare  oppose  this  flood  of  cor- 
ruption. One  plea  is,  there  are  no  laws.  If  we  have 
no  laws  sufficient  to  enforce  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  our  Legislators  refuse  to  enact  any,  we  must 
be  a  very  corrupt  people ;  if  we  have,  and  dare  not  en- 

*  In  one  of  the  largest  States  in  the  Union,  a  public  officer  stopped 
the  Lieutenant-Governor,  as  he  was  walking  out  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
obliged  him  to  return. 


252  THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 

force  them,  then  our  corruption  is  incurable.  In  either 
case,  we  have  a  striking  demonstiation  that  we  are  a  re- 
bellious and  degenerate  people. 

4.  "  Because  of  swearing  the  land  mourneth."  This 
sin  proves  us  degenerate  and  rebellions:.  The  pro- 
fane oath  used  to  be  the  subject  of  public  prosecu- 
tion. Men  dared  not  take  in  vain  the  name  of  the  Lord 
their  God.  When  respect  for  the  great  Jehovah  did  not 
restrain,  the  fear  of  man  did.  But  the  gold  has  become 
dim.  In  many  awful  instances,  the  child  who  has  just 
begun  to  speak,  is  taught  to  swear.  The  evening  streets 
profanely  echo  with  the  names  of  the  eternal  God.  The 
inn,  formerly  the  peaceable  asylum  of  the  pious  travel- 
ler, is  now  often  rendered  intolerable  by  resounding 
oaths  and  curses.  What  sin  can  be  more  daring  ?  It  is 
a  direct  attack  upon  a  holy  God.  It  evinces  a  heart 
desperately  rebellious.  Its  prevalence  evinces  a  slate  of 
society  monstrously  degenerate. 

5  Another  sin,  equally  proving  us  rebellions  and 
degenerate,  is  intemperance.*  This  is  a  growing  sin, 
which  should  alarm  every  friend  to  human  happiness. 
It  prevails  among  both  sexes,!  and  in  all  classes  of  soci- 
ety. Numberless  families  in  our  country  are  rendered 
miserable  by  this  unnatural  iniquity.  To-day  they  are 
happy  and  useful,  to-morrow  lost.  Intemperate  creatures 
are  now  found  in  every  place.  They  come  to  our  holy 
communion,  they  are  entrusted  with  public  offices,  they 
officiate  in  our  Churches,  and  have,  in  some  distressing 
instances,  made  their  way  into  the  sacred  desk,  and  have 
there  stood  in  the  place  of  God's  ambassador. 

*It  is  credibly  reported}  that  in  the  first  settlement  of  this  country, 
SpirituoUs  liquor  was  kepi  only  by  the  apothecaries  as  a  medicine. 

|  It  is  ascertained  to  be  fact,  that  under  the  pretence  of  the  sick  head- 
ache, many  ladies  of  fashion  ietiie  to  sleep  off  the  fumes  of  excessive 
drinking. 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED.  253 

6.  Another  sin  which  proves  us  degenerate  and  re- 
bellious, is  the  existence  of  two  hostile  political  parties. 
The  manner  in  which  these  parties  treat  each  other, 
prove  us  a  vicious  race.  Each  accuses  the  other  of  der 
signing  the  ruin  of  his  country,  of  being  vile,  and  false, 
and  under  foreign  influence.  Now  if  both  divisions 
speak  truth,  in  bringing  this  charge,  then  we  are  all  an 
abandoned  people  ;  if  one  party  only  speak  truth,  still 
about  half  of  us  are  irrecoverably  lost ;  and  if  neither 
keep  the  truth,  then  "  all  men  are  liars."  Take  either 
ground  and  we  are  a  wicked  race.  An  unhappy  result  of 
this  political  division  is,  that  we  have  corrupted  the  press. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  learn  truth  from  the  public 
gazettes.  By  party  prejudice  and  rage,  facts  are  discol- 
oured. The  honest  man  dares  not  confide  in  what  he 
reads.  On  either  side  the  plainest  facts  are  sometimes 
obstinately  and  perseveringly  denied  : — I  do  not  charge 
it  all  to  the  editors,  nor  dare  I  attempt  to  exonerate 
them. 

Once  things  were  not  so.  Our  fathers  knew  but  one 
party  :  they  were  Americans.  They  contended  only  for 
the  interests  of  their  own  country.  Every  public  paper 
was  the  vehicle  of  truth.  If  one  said,  a  I  saw  it  written 
thus  in  the  newspaper"  there  were  none  to  contradict. 
Nothing  was  written  there  that  was  not  believed  to  be 
truth.  But  that  golden  age  is  gone.  Truth,  unable  to 
breathe  our  polluted  atmosphere,  has  taken  its  flight.  As 
if  the  tongue,  that  "  world  of  iniquity,"  could  not  suffi- 
ciently disperse  falsehood,  men  have  taught  the  paper 
and  ink  to  lie  ;  and  yet  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  evi- 
dence, that  there  may  not  be  on  both  sides  of  the  ques- 
tion, the  firmest  friends  and  vilest  enemies  of  their 
country. 

22* 


254  THE  MERCIES  OF  GOD 

Here  I  could  enumerate  many  other  sins ;  among 
which  are  conspicuous  a  disposition  in  professors  of  reli- 
gion to  conform  to  the  world,  the  littie  regard  paid  to  an 
oath,  a  proneness  in  ministers  to  seek  'popularity  rather 
than  usefulness,  to  consult  the  taste  rather  than  the 
good  of  their  hearers,  and  the  prevailing  propensity  to 
asperse  character : — I  am  ashamed  to  name  any  more. 

These  sins  have  offended  Go  ,  and  he  has  come  out 
of  his  holy  place  to  punish  u-  Ii  we  do  not  repent, 
how  can  we  hope  that  God  will  not  treat  us  as  he  has 
other  wicked  nations,  and  discharge  upon  us,  ultimately, 
the  full  vials  of  his  wrath.  Is  there  not  occasion  why  this 
day  should  be  devoted  to  God  ?  If  he  be  for  us,  none  can 
be  against  us  ;  but  if  God  forsake  us,  we  are  as  stubble, 
and  can  be  trodden  down  by  any  foe  that  he  may  com- 
mission. And  can  we  hope  that  he  will  continue  to 
protect  us,  when  discipline  and  prayer  are  neglected : 
when  the  name,  th  -  worship,  the  Sabbath,  and  the  sa- 
cred honour  of  God  are  disregarded  ;  and  when  every 
sin  that  can  be  named  prevails?  Will  he  continue  to 
shield  us  by  his  power,  when  no  longer  his  people?  Will 
he  be  "  a  wall  of  fire  round  about  us,"  when  no  longer 
"the  glory  in  the  midst  of  us?"  As  the  Lord  liveth  our 
sins  have  placed  us  in  danger. 

Is  it  not  then  a  time  when  all  classes  of  men  should 
fear  before  the  Lord  ?  Ought  not  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  to  take  their  stand  between  the  porch  and  the 
altar,  and  cry,  with  incessant  tears,  u  Lord,  spare  thy 
people,  and  give  not  thy  heritage  to  reproach."  Have 
they  not  reason  to  fear  that  the  ark  of  God  may  be  taken 
from  us,  and  carried  to  the  heathen?  Alas  !  if  we  look 
round  us  must  we  not  fear  that  the  divine  glory  is  now 
hovering  over  the  threshold,  in  the  attitude  of  departing. 


NOT  OBEDIENTLY  RECIPROCATED  255 

Since  our  iniquities  put  us  in  danger,  may  every  watch- 
man be  awake  upon  his  watch-tower,  and  be  ready  to 
give  the  alarm,  that  if  he  cannot  save  others,  he  may  at 
least  free  his  own  skirts  from  the  blood  of  souls. 

And  shall  not  parents,  who  look  forward  to  the  desti- 
nies of  a  rising  offspring,  which  they  are  about  to  leave 
in  the  midst  of  dangers  like  these ;  parents  to  whom 
God  has  committed  in  charge  souls  more  precious  than 
material  worlds, — shall  they  not  this  day  mourn  over 
their  own  sins  and  the  sins  of  their  children  ?  Shall 
they  not  bring  them  in  faith  and  prayer  to  the  arms  of  a 
compassionate  God.  My  dear  fathers  and  mothers,  soon 
opportunity  to  pray  for  your  children  will  be  gone.  Your 
withering  locks  will  soon  lie  in  the  dust.  We  do  hope 
that  before  your  dissolution  arrives,  we  shall  be  the  sub- 
jects of  your  earnest  prayers.  We  entreat  you  to  pray 
for  us  to-day. 

My  Christian  friends,  it  will  become  us  to  lie  low  in 
the  dust  to-day,  and  to  review  all  our  sins,  by  which 
perhaps  we  have  stumbled  the  impenitent,  and  provoked 
our  kind  Redeemer.  Think,  brethren,  of  the  impending 
dangers.  Every  thing  dear  to  the  pious  heart  is  at  stake  ; 
the  country  bought  with  the  blood  of  our  fathers  ;  yes, 
and  the  American  churches  bought  with  richer  blood. 
As  we  inquire  now  respecting  the  seven  churches  of  Asia, 
others  may,  another  day,  inquire,  "  Where  are  now  the 
once  flourishing  churches  of  America  ? "  O,  is  this 
ground,  made  sacred  by  the  impress  of  a  Saviour's  feel, 
to  be  trodden  down  by  a  savage  band  ?  Is  this  temple 
of  God  to  become,  ever,  a  Mahometan  mosque.  After 
God  has  baptized  it  with  his  Spirit,  will  he  suffer  it  to 
become  a  heathen  temple '!■  "O!  tell  it  not  in  Gath  ! 
Publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Askelon  !  "  The  enemies 
of  truth  will  triumph.      Christians,  pray  this  day  for 


256  THE    MERCIES  OF  GOD. 

Zion.  Go  to  your  closets,  while  others  are  abusing  the 
day,  and  deplore  prevailing  iniquities,  and  weep  over  a 
people,  who,  by  their  sins,  are  destroying  themselves.  If 
God  will  not  forgive  us,  and  still  be  for  us,  we  die.  And 
the  prayers  of  the  saints  must  bring  the  blessing  down. 
One  word  to  the  impenitent.  This  is  an  important 
day  for  you,  but  I  fear  that  some  of  you  may  this  day  do 
your  souls  much  injury.  The  saints  consider  your  dan- 
ger very  great,  and  many  a  prayer  has  ascended  this 
morning  from  the  "  dwellings  of  Jacob  "  in  your  behalf. 
If  ruin  comes  upon  our  land,  you  have  no  place  of  re- 
fuge. The  Christian  has  a  strong  tower,  into  which  he 
can  run  and  be  safe  ;  but  destruction  will  overtake  you 
if  out  of  Christ.  O  !  what  need  have  you  to  be  afflicted  j 
and  mourn,  and  weep  !  All  your  sins  are  still  written 
against  you.  Not  one  of  all  the  myriads  is  pardoned. 
See  to  it  that  you  do  not  act  to-day  so  as  to  provoke  God 
to  anger,  and  perhaps  induce  him  to  abandon  you  for- 
ever. May  we  all  so  spend  the  day  as  to  do  our  country 
good,  and  promote  our  future  eternal  blessedness. 


A  SERMON, 


DELIVERED    AT 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE   CORNER-STONE 


AMHERST    COLLEGE, 


AUGUST  9,   1820. 


SERMON    LVII. 

THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS'. 

II.  Isaiah,  vi.  1-3. 
And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  said  unto  Elisha,  Behold  now,  the  place 
where  we  dwell  with  thee  is  too  strait  for  us.  Let  us  go,  we  pray  thee,  unto 
Jordan,  and  take  there  every  man  a  beam,  and  let  us  make  us  a  place  there, 
where  we  may  dwell.  And  he  answered,  Go  ye.  And  one  said,  Be  con- 
tent, I  pray  thee,  and  go  with  thy  seivants,  and  he  answered,  I  will  go. 

About  nine  hundred  years  before  Christ,  there  was  at 
Jericho  or  Gilgal.  some  place  near  to  Jordan,  a  school  of 
the  prophets,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  worthy  and 
venerable  Elisha.  The  government  of  Israel  was  in  the 
hands  of  Jehoram,  a  degenerate  son  of  the  impious 
Ahab.  It  was  a  time  of  general  corruption  ;  the  prophets 
were  treated  with  neglect ;  and  the  honours  due  to  God 
were  given  to  an  idol.  Still  the  prophets  were  employed 
in  promoting  the  worship  of  God,  and  their  number  in- 
creased till  they  had  occasion  to  enlarge  the  place  of  their 
tent.  In  the  simple  and  interesting  history  of  this  enter- 
prise, we  learn,  that  the  prophets,  though  poor,  and  not 
held  in  very  high  estimation  in  that  degenerate  age, 
were  pious,  honest,  and  industrious. 

They  seem  to  have  dwelt  together,  that  under  the  tui- 
tion of  their  honoured  father,  they  might  become  prepar- 
ed to  teach  and  prophecy  in  Israel  and  the  neighbouring 
countries.  They  were,  no  doubt,  at  this  time,  frequently 
consulted  by  the  leaders  of  Israel,  notwithstanding  their 
degeneracy  and  corruption. 


260  THE  INDUSTIOUS  YOUNG  PROPIIETS. 

I  presume  it  can  need  no  apology,  if  I  glance  from 
this  school  of  the  prophets  to  the  education  of  a  gospel 
ministry.  O  could  I,  in  the  transition,  bring  with  me 
into  gospel  times  the  faith  of  Elisha,  and  transfer  into 
my  audience  the  zeal  of  his  associates !  Then  the 
building  we  propose  to  erect  would  soon  rise,  and  the 
church,  down  to  the  latest  ages,  feel  and  rejoice  in  the 
benevolent  enterprise.  I  shall  take  occasion  to  remark 
in  the 

First  Place,  That,  up  to  this  moment,  very  inade- 
quate provision  is  made  for  replenishing  the  gospel 
ministry.  This  treasure  is  committed  to  earthen  ves- 
sels ;  ministers  are  dying  men.  When  we  have  served 
the  church  a  few  days,  we  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth, 
and  the  places  that  knew  us  know  us  no  more  forever. 
But  the  churches  must  still  have  a  ministry ;  and  that 
ministry  be  composed  of  men,  not  angels  ;  men  educat- 
ed by  human  means,  not  inspired  with  miraculous  gifts. 
Hence  there  must  be  made  a  perpetual  effort  to  create 
this  supply  of  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  perfecting  of 
the  saints,  and  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ. 
But  the  present  ratio  of  supply  is  entirely  inadequate  to 
the  exigencies  of  the  church.  On  this  subject  there 
needs  no  other  argument  but  a  statement  of  facts,  of 
which  there  could  be  presented  a  list  that  would  move 
any  but  a  heart  of  iron.  A  very  few  of  these  facts, 
drawn  from  the  very  best  authorities,  I  will  take  the 
liberty  to  mention. 

The  nine  millions  of  souls  in  these  United  States, 
have  the  service,  it  is  believed,  of  only  about  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  ministers  who  are  competent  to  preach 
the  gopsel.  But  if  instead  of  this  number  we  had  nine 
thousand,  each  must  then  have  the  care  of  one  thousand 
souls.     But  in  a  large  proportion  of  our  country,  owing 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.  261 

to  the  scattered  state  of  its  population,  five  hundred  souls 
would  be  an  extensive  charge.  Hence,  nine  thousand 
ministers,  in  addition  to  all  we  have,  would  be  but  a 
bare  supply  for  this  district  of  the  church  of  Christ. 
But  this  number  would  equal  that  of  the  ministers  edu- 
cated in  times  past  in  all  the  colleges  in  the  United  States 
in  nearly  twenty  years.  While,  then,  we  might  be  pre- 
paring this  supply,  many  ministers  will  go  to  their 
graves,  and  others  be  disabled,  and  our  population  will 
have  almost  doubled. 

We  are  assured,  that  in  the  three  southernmost  of  the 
Atlantic  States,  containing  perhaps  a  million  and  a  half 
of  souls,  there  are  but  one  hundred  and  ten  competent 
ministers  ;  while  in  one  district  of  South  Carolina,  con- 
taining nine  hundred  square  miles,  there  is  but  one  place 
of  worship,  and  that  not  used,  and  not  one  Christian 
church  or  minister  of  any  denomination.     In  the  whole 
of  Indiana,    Mississippi,    Louisiana,  Alabama,  Illinois, 
Michigan  and  Missouri,  a  district  of  country  large  enough 
for  a  continent,  and  containing  at  least   three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  souls,  there  are  not  twenty  competent 
ministers  ;  of  course,  but  one  to  more  than  twenty  thou- 
sand.    In  East  Tennessee,  there  are  in  seventeen  coun- 
ties more  than  one  hundred  thousand,  while  fourteen  of 
these  counties  are  without  one   regular  minister  of  the 
gospel.     In  the  west  of  Virginia,  in  eight  counties,  are 
forty-seven  thousand  souls  connected  with  no  religious 
society  ;    and  four  whole  counties  without  any  religious 
instituf  ions  whatever.     In  another  district  there  are  fifty- 
three  thousand  souls,  in  another  twenty  thousand,  and  in 
another  still  sixty  tbousand,  all  in  about  the  same  deplor- 
able condition.     In  Pennsylvania  there  are  extensive  dis- 
tricts in  which  there  never  was  a  school,  where   more 
than  half  the  adults  can  neither  read  nor  write,  many 

23 


262         THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

never  saw  a  Bible  nor  any  book, nor  ever  heard  a  sermon. 
One  district  of  forty  thousand  souls,  has  but  one  fixed 
pastor.  In  the  state  of  New- York  there  could  be  settled 
immediately,  were  they  to  be  found,  two  hundred  minis- 
ters. And  if  we  should  survey  the  limits  of  New-Eng- 
land, we  should  see  some  dreary  moral  deserts.  In  the 
two  oldest  counties  of  New-Hampshire,  there  are  about 
forty-five  towns  without  a  ministry.  But  1  have  not  time 
to  enlarge.  Allowing  that  these  statements  may  be  in 
many  respects  not  exactly  correct,  still  they  are  evidence 
of  a  wide  and  fearful  desolation.  If  but  the  one  half  is 
true,  it  presents  to  the  eye  of  charity  a  moral  landscape 
of  wide  and  fearful  dimensions.* 

If  you  could  read  the  epistles  that  pour  these  com- 
plaints into  our  ears,  you  would  weep  if  you  ever  did,  or 
would  die  with  shame,  or  would  rise  to  a  tone  of  charity 
that  many  have  not  reached.  Now  these  desolate  places 
must  be  cultivated,  these  wastes  of  death  must  be  fertiliz- 
ed. But  where  are  they  to  find  a  ministry  ?  The  com- 
mon resources  are  utterly  inadequate  to  this  home  sup- 
ply. But  in  the  mean  time  we  need  missionaries  to  send 
to  the  heathen.  Of  these  there  are  six  hundred  millions 
who  pay  their  supreme  homage  to  stocks  and  stones. 
The  United  States,  it  is  computed,  ought  to  despatch  to 
their  help  at  least  two  thousand  missionaries,  and  roill 
do  it,  if  the  time  has  come,  as  we  presume  it  has,  when 
the  Christian  community,  with  the  charter  of  eternal  life 
in  their  hands,  can  sleep  no  longer. 

And  still  the  ministry  must  be  replenished  at  home. 
If  the  probability  is,  that  we  shall  feel  it  our  duty  soon  to 
support  among  the  heathen,   a  number  of  missionaries 

*  We  are  happy  to  say  that  the  state  of  things,  in  all  these  cases,  are 
greatly  altered  for  the  better,  and  that  this  institution,  notwithstanding 
its  youth,  has  had  its  full  share  in  producing  these  happy  results. 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.         263 

greater  than  that  of  the  ministers  now  within  our  limits, 
pray  from  what  resource  can  we  obtain  that  enormous 
supply?  To  ex  [tort  the  whole  of  our  ministry,  would 
render  our  own  country  the  valley  of  death.  It  is  im- 
possible not  to  see  that  the  Christian  churches  have  neg- 
lected their  duty  too  long.  We  must  be  more  thoroughly 
awake  soon,  or  nothing  but  a  boundless  desolation  stares 
us  in  the  face.  The  wastes  of  death  are  already  so  wide 
that  they  almost  outmeasure  the  hope  of  cultivation,  and 
they  are  daily  augmenting  their  horrid  circumference. 
Our  children,  when  we  shall  have  done  all  that  we  can, 
are  very  likely  to  be  among  those  who  shall  cry  for  the 
bread  of  life,  and  perish  before  their  cry  is  heard.  When 
they  shall  have  attended  our  funeral,  they  may  retire  to 
the  west,  and  there  pine  away  in  their  sins,  while  there 
falls  upon  their  ears  no  sound  of  mercy,  and  their  eyes 
see  not  upon  the  mountains  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth 
glad  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace,  that  saith  to  Zion, 
Thy  God  reigneth.  We  may  miss  our  children  in  heav- 
en, and  know  then,  but  know  too  late,  that  they  have 
perished  through  our  negligence.  While  we  thus  weep 
over  the  fearful  delinquencies  in  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation, it  is  cheering  to  know, 

II.  That  we  have  the  materials  and  the  means  of  an 
abundant  supply.  When  I  speak  of  the  materials,  my 
eye  is  searching  among  the  churches  for  the  happy  sub- 
jects of  our  late  revivals.  Many  of  them  I  perceive  are 
in  the  vale  of  poverty,  and  would  rejoice  to  be  useful,  if 
they  might  presume  to  hope,  that  they  could  be  equipped 
for  the  work,  and  that  God  would  employ  them  in  his 
service.  They  are  waiting,  it  is  presumed,  till  this  in- 
stitution rise,  and  some  kind  voice  invite  them  to  come 
and  take  sanctuary  under  its  covert.  If  they  could  equip 
themselves  they  would  ;  or  if  they  dared  to  hope  that 


264  THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

they  were  worthy,  they  would  pour  their  cry  into  our 
ears,  and  give  us  no  rest  till  we  had  made  them  the  re- 
cipients of  our  charity.  A  few  years  since,  if  we  had 
been  awake  to  this  interest,  it  would  not  have  been  easy 
to  find  materials.  God  had  suffered  our  youth  to  grow 
up  in  unbelief,  and  thus  had  chastised  us  for  our  neg- 
ligence. But,  anticipating  the  close  of  our  portentous 
blumber,  his  mercy  has  waked,  and  prepared  the  rising 
generation  to  be  educated,  and  employed  to  lead  to  con- 
quest and  to  glory  the  sacramental  hosts  of  God's  elect. 
If  we  were  prepared  and  would  enter  to-morrow  one  hun- 
dred upon  our  opening  list  of  beneficiaries,  it  is  presumed 
they  could  readily  be  found,  and  their  hearts  would  leap 
for  joy  to  know  that  they  might  be  furnished  to  the  good 
work  of  pointing  sinners  to  tiie  Saviour. 

And  we  have  abundantly  the  means.  If  each  person 
in  the  United  States  would  give  one  cent  a  year  for  this 
purpose,  it  would  amount  to  ninety  thousand  dollars  an- 
nually, a  sum  the  interest  of  which  would  discharge  an- 
nually and  forever  the  expenses  of  more  than  fifty  bene- 
ficiaries, or  if  the  principal  should  be  expended,  it  would 
support  for  one  year  nine  hundred.  If  each  church 
member  in  the  United  States  should  contribute  to  this  ob- 
ject annually  one  dollar,  it  would  probably  raise  the  sum 
of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  support  four  thou- 
sand students.  Most  congregations  beside  supporting  the 
ministry,  could  defray  the  expenses  of  one  student  an- 
nually, and  thus  furnish  every  seven  years  one  minister. 
In  one  timely  shower  of  rain,  God  could  restore  all  we 
had  expended  for  years;  or  by  warding  off  one  storm> 
could  save  for  us  a  far  greater  amount.  The  man  who 
could  lose  an  ox  every  year,  and  not  be  poor,  or  could 
bear  the  expense  of  one  fit  of  sickness,  could  pour  the 
price  of  that  ox,  or  the  expenses  of  that  visitation,  into  the 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.  265 

treasury  of  the  Lord,  and  not  be  poor.  But  if  half  the 
number  who  could  make  this  sacrifice,  would  do  it,  and 
devote  the  avails  to  this  object,  we  could  very  soon  ten- 
fold the  number  of  our  ministers,  and  make  the  desert 
and  the  solitary  place  glad.  If  one  can  spend  idly,  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  ten  days,  and  not  be  poor,  he  could 
employ  those  days,  and  not  be  poor,  in  earning  something 
for  this  benevolent  purpose.  But  if  half  who  actually 
make  this  sacrifice  should  thus  employ  their  time,  the 
treasury  of  the  Lord  would  soon  be  full.  If  the  youth 
who  annually  spend  ten  dollars  in  mere  extravagancies, 
would  give  the  one  half  of  this  expenditure  to  educate 
pious  and  worthy  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry, 
there  would  be  made  no  farther  calls  upon  the  Christian 
public.  If  farmers  would  cultivate  each  a  quarter  acre 
of  their  waste  lands  in  the  best  manner,  and  give  the  pro- 
ceeds to  the  Lord,  it  would  probably  tenfold  the  sum  that 
has  usually  been  given  for  all  the  benevolent  purposes 
for  which  contributions  have  been  made.  If  the  extra 
crops  of  the  present  year,  were  devoted  to  the  Lord,  and 
expended  in  thrusting  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest,  the 
fields  that  are  white  would  soon  be  gathered  in.  Were 
that  sum  saved,  which  is  annually  lost  by  mere  neglig- 
ence, it  would  forever  supply  the  churches  with  a  well- 
educated  ministry,  would  furnish  an  army  of  evangelists, 
and  would  fertilize  the  wastes  of  a  moral  world.  Instead 
.of  its  being  the  fact,  as  the  covetous  daily  plead,  that  our 
resources  are  exhausted,  they  are  really  yet  untouched, 
The  man  can  hardly  be  found,  who  has  denied  himself 
a  comfort  to  revive  a  famishing  world.  And,  as  it  will 
always  happen,  those  who  complain  the  most  have  done 
the  leas',  and  most  of  those  who  complain,  have  done 
nothing.  The  man  who  loves  to  do  good  with  his  wealth 
is  attentive  to  every  call  of  charity,  and  has  made  eyery 

23* 


266  THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YuUNG  PROPHETS. 

benevolent  institution  feel  the  effects  of  his  liberality  and 
his  prayers,  is  grieved  that  he  does  so  little,  and  has 
never  been  heard  to  say,  that  the  calls  upon  his  charity 
have  become  so  frequent  as  to  be  oppressive.  That  we 
have  the  means  abundantly,  of  making  exertions  that 
we  have  never  made,  none  can  doubt. 

III.  It  is  our  duty  to  use  these  means,  and  supply 
ourselves  and  others  with  a  well  educated  ministry. 
The  duty  of  preparing  ourselves  a  ministry  admits  of  no 
controversy.  If  a  congregation  in  each  thirty  or  forty 
years  wears  out  a  minister  in  their  service,  it  is  but  hon- 
est to  calculate,  that  such  a  congregation  should,  in  every 
such  period,  in  addition  to  supporting  the  ministry  al- 
ready in  their  employ,  educate  one,  that  the  list  may  be 
kept  full.  The  only  question  is,  Shall  we  provide  a  sur- 
plus, for  those  who  are  destitute  of  a  ministry,  and  can- 
not be  expected  to  supply  themselves  ?  A  very  little  re- 
flection, it  would  seem,  must  render  this  matter  plain. 
If  we  look  about  us  upon  the  waste  places,  we  shall  feel 
that  we  are  imperiously  urged  to  provide  them  a  supply 
of  pastors.  There  are  churches  very  near  us,  which 
have  been  so  unhappy  as  to  lose  the  blessing  they  once 
enjoyed.  Perhaps  the  surviving  members  had  no  part- 
nership in  the  sin  that  stripped  them  of  the  ministry. 
They  are  begging  for  help,  would  do  all  in  their  power 
to  provide  themselves  the  gospel  and  its  ordinances  ;  but 
when  they  have  done  all  they  can  do,  they  still  hunger 
for  the  bread  of  life.  The  Domestic  Missionary  Society, 
instituted  for  their  relief,  have  assured  us,  that,  although 
their  funds  have  been  low,  much  of  the  time  since  their 
organization  they  have  done  nothing,  because  men 
could  not  be  found  suitable  for  the  service.  When  I 
read  of  this  fact,  it  had  on  my  ear  the  effect  of  a  dying- 
groan,  and  stole  through  the  heart  like  the  cold  stream 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.  267 

of  death.  Said  I  to  myself,  Are  the  churches  that  our 
fathers  planted,  which  they  watered  with  their  tears,  in 
whose  bosom  they  expired,  and  in  whose  prosperity, 
though  now  in  heaven,  they  have  still  a  deep  and  unali- 
enable interest — are  they  to  become  extinct  ?  Is  that 
covenant  broken,  which  it  was  promised  should  be  per- 
petual I  Had  their  Redeemer  said,  "I  have  graven  thee 
upon  the  palms  of  my  hands,  thy  walls  are  continually 
before  me,"  and  has  that  city  been  demolished,  and  have 
those  walls  been  thrown  down  ?  Have  the  children  who 
there  received  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  no  promise  left 
on  which  to  hang  their  hopes  I  If  we  are  to  do  good  to 
all  men,  but  especially  to  those  who  are  of  the  household 
of  faith,  to  help  them  to  re-establish  in  their  temples  the 
ministry  of  reconciliation  is  the  first  duty  of  piety,  and  the 
first  dictate  of  humanity.  They  hunger  and  thirst  after 
the  bread  of  life,  have  received  a  pledge  that  God  will 
sanctify  them  through  his  truth,  and  cannot  be  denied 
the  blessing  requisite  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  promise. 

Or  if  we  turn  our  eye  to  those  who  have  gone  to  the 
western  woods,  we  shall  see  opened  before  us  a  field 
which  we  dare  not  refuse  to  cultivate.  They  have  been 
used  to  the  blessings  of  a  Christian  land,  have  heard  and 
loved  the  church-going  bell,  have  enjoyed  schools,  acade- 
mies and  libraries,  and  been  revived  by  the  ordinance?, 
and  must  they  now  be  excluded  forever  from  these  privi- 
leges 1  They  cannot  educate  for  themselves  a  ministrv, 
nor  build  in  the  wilderness  the  unnumbered  conveniences 
they  left  behind.  They  have  tinned  their  eye  to  us,  and 
if  we  refuse  them  help  we  cover  them  with  unmingled 
despair.  They  have  thus  before  them  none  but  the  com- 
fortless prospect  of  seeing  their  children  become  wild  men 
their  hand  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand 
against  them  ;  nor  this  the  least ;  for,  without  the  gospel, 


268         THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

there  is  nothing  before  their  dear  devoted  offspring  but 
the  blackness  of  darkness  forever.  The  mother,  that 
had  devoted  her  children  to  God,  and  has  gone  with 
them  into  the  western  wilds,  must  now  die  crushed  with 
the  tremendous  thought,  that  she  became  a  mother, 
merely  that  she  might  people  the  realms  of  death.  Al- 
ready she  has  hung  her  harp  upon  the  willows,  and 
there  it  must  hang,  till  some  kind  missionary  enters  the 
door  of  her  cabin,  and  wipes  away  her  tears  ;  and  this 
missionary  ?/;e  must  educate.  Ten  long  years  must 
still  roll  away  before  he  arrives,  and  she  in  the  mean 
time,  bleached  by  the  frosts  of  age,  trembles  on  the  brink 
of  the  grave,  but  dare  not  die  till  her  hopes  are  accom- 
plished, and  her  children  saved. 

And  who  are  these  inhabitants  of  the  forest  ?  They 
are  our  fathers  and  mothers,  our  brethren  and  sisters, 
our  children,  our  friends  and  neighbours.  They  were 
born  in  the  houses  we  occupy,  have  gone  from  our  fami- 
lies and  our  bosom,  were  the  companions  of  our  child- 
hood and  our  youth.  We  took  sweet  counsel  together, 
and  went  to  the  house  of  God  in  company.  Hence  the 
cry  they  utter  sounds  in  our  ears  loud  and  eloquent  as 
the  shrieks  of  death.  ■  If  we  do  not  hear  nor  help  them, 
then  the  mother  has  forgot  her  sucking  child,  and  feels 
no  compassion  for  the  son  of  her  womb.  Do  you  say, 
They  shall  have  a  gospel  ministry  ?  My  heart  responds, 
They  shall. 

But  I  hear  too  the  voice  of  the  savage,  sounding  from 
the  bosom  of  that  trackless  forest  still  beyond.  And 
there  is  in  that  cry  a  wild  and  native  eloquence. 

"  You  have  stripped  us  of  our  hunting  ground  ;  all  in 
life  that  we  held  dear  ;  you  have  corrupted  our  morals  ; 
our  tribes,  already  incalculably  diminished,  have  on- 
thin  g  before  them  but  the  dreary  idea  of  being  swal- 


THE   INDUSTRIOUS  i'OUNG  PROPHETS  269 

lowed  up,  unless  it  be  the  more  fearful  apprehension  of 
perishing  forever  in  our  sins.  Once  we  were  the  heirs 
of  your  soil,  we  now  only  ask  to  die  the  heirs  of  that 
salvation,  which  is  revealed  to  you  in  your  Bibles." 
A  cry  like  this  has  been  uttered  and  is  heard.  Already 
the  heralds  of  salvation  have  gone  to  look  up  the  rem- 
nants of  their  depopulated  tribes,  and  point  them  to  a 
Saviour.  Their  sun  is  setting  in  the  west,  and  we  should 
give  evidence  that  we  had  their  unpitying  nature  as  well 
as  their  soil,  were  we  willing  to  see  it  go  down  in  total 
darkness.  If  the  few  that  remain  may  live  forever,  it 
alleviates  the  retrospect  of  their  wrongs,  and  creates  one 
luminous  spot  in  the  Egyptian  cloud  that  hangs  over 
the  place  of  their  fathers'  sepulchres.  I  would  give  any 
price  for  their  forgiveness  and  (heir  blessing ;  and  it 
cheers  my  heart  that  my  country  is  beginning  to  pay 
the  long  arrears  whieh  are  due  to  that  injured  people. 

Now  suppose,  that  not  merely  from  the  west,  but 
from  other  heathen  lands,  we  hear  a  cry  for  the  gospel. 
If  the  millions  of  India  ask  us  to  send  them  back  in  Bi- 
bles and  missionaries  the  wealth  we  have  imported  from 
their  shores,  can  we  say  to  them,  "  Be  ye  warmed  and 
be  ye  fed  ?  "  If  Palestine,  and  the  shores  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, are  seen  pining  with  spiritual  famine,  and 
should  beg  us  to  send  them  that  bread  of  heaven  which 
their  forefathers  sent  to  ours,  would  there  be  no  elo- 
quence in  that  prayer  l  Or  if  Africa,  poor  ill-fated  Af- 
rica, should  beg  us  to  make  them  a  Sabbath,  and  build 
them  a  sanctuary,  and  send  them  a  Bible  and  a  missiona- 
ry ;  would  they  deserve  no  answer  1  Or  if  they  should 
be  too  much  oppressed  to  utter  any  cry,  and  we  should 
only  know  that  their  highest  deity  is  a  serpent,  and  their 
richest  hope  the  repose  of  the  grave,  can  we  pass  by  on 
the  other  side  'I     Their  sons  have  served  our  fathers  and 


270         THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

us  ;  we  have  taught  them  nothing  but  our  vices ;  and 
if  now,  when  the  promise  is  about  to  be  fulfilled,  and 
Ethiopia  is  stretching  out  her  hands  unto  God,  we  should 
refuse  them  the  gospel,  how  can  we  answer  for  the  stripes, 
and  chains,  and  servitude,  and  famine,  with  which  we 
have  taxed  them  ?  What  defence  can  we  make  when 
their  compassionate  Redeemer  shall  advocate  their  cause. 

Poor  Africa  must  share,  though  late,  the  blessings  of 
the  gospel  ;  it  must  be  sent  to  the  shores  of  Palestine, 
must  be  propagated  in  India,  must  sound  through  every 
isle  of  the  ocean,  and  must  go,  with  its  stores  of  blessings, 
to  every  section  of  this  dark  and  desolate  world.  But 
it  cannot  be  sent  ;  the  miseries  that  it  would  alleviate 
must  remain  without  a  cure,  till  there  is  a  great  augmen- 
tation of  the  army  of  evangelists.  Hence  we  must  use 
the  materials  and  employ  the  means  in  our  power  to 
equip  young  men  for  this  service.  And  every  year's  de- 
lay will  bury  millions  who  have  never  heard  of  Christ, 
and  have  no  faith  in  his  blood.  Hence  we  are  urged  to 
the  work,  by  all  that  is  fleeting  in  time,  by  all  that  is 
valuable  in  the  soul,  by  all  that  is  bright  and  rich  in  the 
thought  of  heaven,  and  by  all  that  is  dark  and  dreary  in 
the  idea  of  hopeless  perdition. 

IV.  Union  in  the  Christian  world  will  insure  success. 
Said  the  young  men  to  the  aged  and  venerable  Elisha, 
"Be  content,  we  pray  thee,  and  go  with  thy  servants." 
There  was  union  ;  and  very  soon  the  trees  of  Jordan  fell, 
and  the  school  of  the  prophets  was  builded.  How  sim- 
ple, how  interesting,  and  how  full  of  instruction  is  this 
page  of  sacred  story  !  How  the  venerable  prophet,  as  he 
bore  up  a  beam  from  the  wood,  evinced  his  faith  in  the 
covenant,  nerved  the  young  men  to  exertion,  and  mag- 
nified his  office  !  Let  the  Christian  world  unite,  and  the 
work  we  propose  will  be  easy.     When  all  shall  do  a  little, 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.         271 

none  will  be  burdened.  We  can  educate  teachers  for 
ourselves,  and  furnish  a  surplus  for  the  outcasts  of  Israel. 
And  to  do  it  all  we  hardly  need  deny  ourselves  a  single 
comfort.  We  have  only  to  gather  up  the  fragments  and 
let  nothing  be  lost,  and  they  will  feed  millions  of  the  hun- 
gry. When  we  can  unite  in  the  effort,  it  will  be  easy 
to  do  all  that  duty  and  that  bmevolence  require.  The 
waste  places  will  be  repaired,  the  destitute  will  be  fur- 
nished with  the  bread  of  heaven,  the  heathen  will  be 
tamed  to  civility,  and  will  burn  their  temples  and  their 
idols,  Ethiopia  will  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God,  the 
posterity  of  Abraham  will  own  their  allegiance  to  their 
Saviour,  and  be  again  grafted  into  their  own  olive  tree, 
the  Turk  and  the  Arab  will  exchange  the  mosque  and 
the  Koran  for  the  sanctuary  and  the  Bible,  the  Tartar 
will  pitch  permanently  his  tent  about  the  house  of  the 
missionary,  and  Jesus,  the  long  neglected  Redeemer, 
will  receive  the  kingdom,  the  power  and  the  glory  for- 
ever. 

And  there  is  nothing  visionary  in  all  this.  It  is  all 
promised,  it  is  all  expected,  it  will  soon  transpire  ;  and 
the  man  who  will  not  believe,  like  the  infidel  of  Samaria, 
may  die  in  the  gate,  while  the  peris! ring  inhabitants  of 
a  world  are  rushing  to  the  banquet  of  the  Lamb.  The 
angel,  flying  through  the  midst  of  heaven,  and  having 
the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  them  that  dwell  on 
the  earth,  will  publish  it  to  every  kindred  and  nation  and 
tongue  and  people.  This  any  el  is  the  gospel  ministry, 
and  this  prediction  is  fast  accomplishing. 

Will  any  ask,  What  has  all  this  to  do  with  the  present 
occasion  ?  The  answer  is  obvious.  You  have  met  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  an  institution,  designed  to  recruit 
the  ranks  of  the  gospel  ministry.  There  are  many  who 
would  become  soldiers  of  the  cross,  if  any  would  equip 


272  THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

them.  The  subscribers  to  this  generous  fund,  and  the 
founders  of  this  noble  edifice,  have  in  view  this  single  ob- 
ject. It  is  an  institution,  in  some  respects,  like  no  other 
that  ever  rose  ;  designed  to  bestow  gratis  a  liberal  educa- 
tion upon  tbose  who  will  enter  the  gospel  ministry,  but 
who  are  too  indigent  to  defray  the  expense  of  their  own 
induction.  It  has  been  founded  and  must  rise  by  char- 
ity. And  every  man  who  shall  bring  a  beam  or  a  rock, 
who  shall  lay  a  stone  or  drive  a  nail,  from  love  to  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  shall  not  fail  of  his  reward.  I  believe 
this  institution  will  collect  about  it  the  friends  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  who  will  be  fed  by  their  philantbropy  and 
watered  by  their  prayers,  and  will  yet  become  a  fountain 
pouring  forth  its  streams  to  fertilize  the  boundless  wastes 
of  a  miserable  world.  In  vision  I  see  it  among  the 
first  institutions  of  our  land,  the  younger  sister  and  the 
best  friend  of  our  theological  seminaries,  the  centre  of 
our  education  societies,  the  solace  of  poverty,  the  joy  of 
the  destitute,  and  the  hope  and  the  salvation  of  perish- 
ing millions.* 

Connected  as  it  is  with  the  recruit  of  the  ministry, 
the  salvation  of  souls,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  it  will  rise,  and  will  soon  have  a  claim  upon  the 
charity,  the  prayers,  and  the  tears  of  the  whole  Christian 
community.  If  some  who  may  aid  in  the  work  have 
other  motives  than  the  glory  of  God,  still  I  will  hope, 
and  I  do  believe,  that  the  great  mass  of  the  donors,  have 
their  eye  upon  the  future  glories  of  Emmanuel,  and  are 
erecting  this  institution  as  a  monument  to  his  honour. 
And  having  put  their  hand  to  the  plough,  they  will  not 
look  back.  They  will  still  enlarge  their  charities,  and 
increase  their  hopes,  till  this  sacred  spot,  where  they  are 

*  We  arc  happy  ;o  say  tl  atthispred'ction  has  been  fulfilled  long  be- 
fore this  time. 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.  273 

erecting  the  school,  has  attracted  the  gaze,  and  gladden- 
ed the  aching  hearts  of  believers  in  every  destitute  sec- 
tion of  our  land. 

The  subject  now  makes  its  appeal  to  all  classes  of  men, 
to  all  the  tender  relationships  of  life,  and  to  all  the  sym- 
pathies of  human  nature.  Its  first  appeal  is  to  the 
churches  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  are  the  sa- 
cred depositaries  of  divine  truth,  and  are  obligated  to  per- 
petuate the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  Here  you  may 
educate  your  children,  born  in  your  late  revivals,  and 
committed  to  your  care  to  train  up  for  the  Lord.  Here 
you  see  revived  the  hope  and  the  promise  of  your  future 
prosperity.  "  Thy  children  shall  all  be  taught  of  the 
Lord,  and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children."  Here 
we  hope  will  be  educated  many  of  your  future  pastors. 
You  have  here  an  additional  pledge,  that  God  has  not 
forsaken  you,  and  that  he  will  never  leave  the  vine  he 
has  planted  in  this  western  world,  to  be  trodden  down 
by  the  boar  of  the  wood,  or  wasted  by  the  lapse  of  time 
or  the  ravages  of  death.  "  Thy  teachers  shall  not  be  re- 
moved into  a  corner  any  more,  but  thine  eyes  shall  see  thy 
teachers." 

And  congregations  have  a  singular  interest.  You 
have  had  just  occasion  to  fear  that  you  might  one  day 
become  waste  places,  through  a  lack  of  pastors.  But 
the  thought  must  be  dreadful,  whether  you  regard  a 
future  life,  or  only  the  present.  When  the  lips  which 
now  dddreas  you  in  your  respective  sanctuaries,  are  cold 
in  death,  and  you  are  met  to  pay  the  last  offices  of  affec- 
tion to  your  deceased  pastors,  how  it  would  darken  the 
gloo.ns  of  that  evening,  and  lessen  your  hopes  of  salva- 
tion, to  apprehend  a  famine  of  the  word.  But  the  most 
judicious,  till  the  church  waked  to  the  duty  of  educating 
herself  a  ministry,  feared  all  this.     The  increase  of  our 

24 


274  THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

population,  and  the  urgent  claims  of  the  heathen  and  the 
destitute,  seemed  to  leave  us,  till  we  discovered  this 
remedy,  nothing  to  look  for  but  ultimate  desertion  and 
ruin.  For  with  the  gospel,  it  was  known  there  would 
desert  us  the  Sabbath  and  all  those  institutions  which 
are  the  glory  of  our  land.  Hn  the  very  infidel,  who 
has  no  hope  for  himself  and  his  chil  'ren  beyond  the 
grave,  but  would  have  them  civil,  and  decent,  and 
wealthy,  and  happy  in  the  present  life,  has  a  deep  inter- 
est in  this  institution. 

But  the  subject  addresses  itself  specially  (o  believers. 
You  love  the  Lord  Je  us  Christ,  and  love  his  church, 
and  have  a  deep  interest  in  whatever  has  respect  to 
his  honour.  And  the  eternal  life  of  souls  is  near  your 
heart.  If  this  institution  then  promises  to  promote  ei- 
ther of  these  objects,  it  will  be  dear  to  your  hearts.  And 
you  know  the  ministry  is  appointed  for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints  and  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ. 
Of  course  an  institution  designed  to  enlarge  this  minis- 
try, is  connected  intimately  with  your  best  interests, 
your  highest  pleasures,  and  your  richest  hopes.  And  as 
you  shall  see  its  walls  rise,  we  shall  presume  on  your  co- 
operation and  your  prayers. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  whole  vicinity  have  a  deep 
interest  in  this  institution.  It  will  not  confine  its  bles- 
sings to  you,  but  it  will  offer  you  its  benefits  with  the 
fewest  inconveniences.  If  God  has  given  your  children 
his  grace,  you  have  here  an  opportunity  to  educate  them 
at  your  own  threshold.  And  if  you  are  too  poor  to  pur- 
chase the  privilege,  still  this  institution  opens  to  you  its 
doors.  Nor  is  the  thought  to  be  despised,  that  here  there 
will  be  collected  those  who  have  an  interest  at  the  throne 
of  grace,  and  whose  daily  supplications  must  bring  a 
blessing  upon  the  whole  vicinity. 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.  275 

To  parents  this  subject  cannot  want  interest.  If  there 
should  be  no  prospect  that  our  own  children  be  here  pre- 
pared for  usefulness,  still  the  institution  will  stand,  we 
trust,  when  our  bodies  have  mouldered  in  the  grave,  and 
be  a  nursery  for  our  children's  children  down  through 
many  generations.  In  an  age  like  this,  pregnant  with 
such  high  and  holy  promise  to  the  rising  generation,  it 
is  a  blessing  to  be  a  parent.  We  may  have  higher 
hopes  than  any  age  that  has  gone  by,  that  God  will  pour 
out  his  Spirit  upon  our  seed,  and  his  blessing  upon  our 
offspring. 

The  friends  of  correct  s<jntime?it  will  rejoice  to  see  a 
school  of  the  prophets  opened  among  a  people  who  be- 
lieve the  truth,  and  in  a  neighbourhood  where  there  is 
a  pious  and  orthodox  ministry,  where  prevail  the  doc- 
trines of  our  forefathers,  and  where  the  assurance  is  so 
strong,  that  these  same  funds  shall  never  be  perverted 
from  their  original  design.  We  have  seen  error  at- 
tempting to  roll  its  desolating  flood  through  our  church- 
es. We  have  seen  prostituted  to  the  vile  purpose  of  dis- 
seminating false  doctrines,  funds  that  were  consecrated 
to  the  interests  of  truth.  We  have  seen  the  Redeemer 
degraded  to  a  mere  attribute,  an  angel,  a  man  and  even 
a  sinner,  by  the  very  charities  that  were  intended  to 
give  him  a  throne  in  every  heart,  and  an  altar  in  every 
house.  We  have  seen  fountains,  opened  by  the  liberality 
of  a  pious  ancestry,  so  poisoned,  that  every  stream  they 
issued  carried  sterility  and  death  through  the  provinces 
they  were  designed  to  fertilize.  Next  to  the  grace  of 
God,  and  relying  on  his  blessing,  the  best  means  of 
cleansing  those  waters,  or  damming  these  streams,  is  to 
prepare  for  the  churches  a  full  supply  of  scribes  well  in- 
structed in  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  the  hope  could 
lurdly  be  stronger,  that  the  funds  here  deposited  for  that 


276 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 


purpose,  will  be  forever  held  sacred  to  the  design  for 
which  they  were  consecrated. 

The  poor  will  feel  a  special  interest  in  every  transac- 
tion relative  to  this  institution.  The  fund  subscribed  is 
exclusively  for  them,  and  can  never  be  diverted  from 
their  use.  Here  then  is  one  institution  where  envy  can 
have  no  employ.  The  rich  would  not  be  willing  that 
the  Christian  public  should  educate  their  children,  they 
would  prefer  to  purchase  the  benefit.  Once  it  was  said, 
i:  To  the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached?  now  the  poor  may 
become  qualified  to  preach  the  gospel.  They  may  dis- 
pense the  blessings  which  it  has  been  their  province  to 
receive,  may  teach  where  it  was  their  privilege  to  learn, 
may  become  beneficiaries  to  an  extent  that  shall  qualify 
them  to  become  benefactors.  Here,  if  you  cannot  edu- 
cate your  own  children,  and  God  has  given  them  his 
grace,  and  they  are  otherwise  qualified,  you  may  send 
them  to  live  by  the  temple  and  feed  upon  its  offerings, 
till  they  are  prepared  to  be  prophets  in  Israel.  O  it  must 
■carry  hope  and  joy  into  the  habitations  of  poverty  to  day, 
to  know  that  there  is  laid  the  foundation  of  an  institu- 
tion, destined  to  pour  its  blessings  exclusively  upon  the 
indigent  !  This  is  a  blessing  that  has  lain  so  beyond 
their  hopes  as  to  have  hardly  been  an  object  of  their 
prayers.  Before  they  have  called  God  has  answered. 
Hence,  to  the  full  extent  of  their  power  they  will  pour 
into  this  fund  the  little  streams  of  their  charity,  and  will 
watch  the  progress  of  its  rising  honours  and  its  growing 
interests  with  paternal  fondness  and  solicitude. 

Nor  will  the  rich  have  any  feelings  but  those  of  plea- 
sure. All  other  institutions  have  opened  their  doors  to 
them,  while  this  one,  which  promises  promotion  to  the 
children  of  their  poorer  neighbours,  will  receive  their  pa- 
tronage and   their  prayers.      Nor  can  they  know  but 


THE   INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.  277 

their  posterity  may  be  poor,  and  one  day  hang  their 
last  hope  on  the  promised  aid  of  this  kind  and  benevolent 
institution. 

I  cannot  suppress  my  wish  to  recommend  this  institu- 
tion to  the  patronage  of  females.  They  have  recently 
signalized  themselves  as  the  friends  of  religion  and  of 
the  gospel  ministry.  Many  an  ambassador  of  the  cross 
owes  his  courage  and  his  success,  to  their  charities  and 
their  prayers.  Here  they  will  have  opportunity,  I  hope, 
to  see  some  of  their  noblest  wishes  gratified.  Here  they 
may  consecrate  their  charities,  and  toward  this  place  may 
turn  their  eye  when  they  pray,  arid  find  their  spirits 
cheered,  their  prayers  answered,  and  their  hopes  accom- 
plished. In  the  zeal  they  show  for  these  objects,  they 
evince  that  they  know  how  to  appreciate  their  own  com- 
forts. The  gospel,  in  addition  to  the  promise  of  eternal 
life,  renders  them  free,  respected,  and  happy,  in  the  life 
that  now  is. 

This  institution  has  a  claim  upon  the  patriot.  No 
country  is  so  blessed  as  when  science  and  religion  blend 
their  influences,  and  shower  upon  society  their  united 
blessing.  But  this  school,  more  than  any  other,  will 
tend  to  that  balance  of  influence,  and  approximate  us 
toward  that  equality,  which  is  ever  the  basis  of  a  gov- 
ernment like  ours.  It  will  raise  the  poor,  widen  the 
bonds  of  affection,  and  vastly  increase  the  amount  of  hap- 
piness. We  hope  to  enlist  in  this  benevolent  design  the 
whole  aggregate  of  patriotism  within  the  compass  of  its 
influence. 

The  'ministers  of  Christ  will  say,  God  speed,  to  an 
enterprise  calculated  to  increase  the  labourers  in  the  vine- 
yard. We  shall  thus  give  evidence  to  the  world,  that 
all  we  say  respecting  the  scarcity  of  ministers  we  fully 
believe ;  for  if  things  were  otherwise,  we  could  not  act 
24* 


2/8  THE  IN'DUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

more  unwisely  for  our  own  interest  than  to  thus  raise  up 
rivals,  who  might  rob  us  of  our  parishes  and  our  bread. 
How  it  must  gladden  our  aged  fathers,  to  see  an  institu- 
tion rise,  designed  to  prolong  the  cry  of  glad  tidings, 
which  begins  to  die  away  upon  their  palsied  lips.  When 
they  can  address  sinners  no  more,  and  can  only  cast  an 
eye  over  the  valley  of  vision,  and  survey  the  vast  fields 
of  the  slain,'  it  will  rejoice  their  hearts  to  see  other  pro- 
phets taking  their  stand  by  the  side  of  that  valley,  intend- 
ing to  prolong  the  prophecy  till  the  dry  bones  have  be- 
come living  men.  When  the  aged  Elisha  went  with  the 
young  prophets  to  the  banks  of  Jordan,  to  cheer  them  in 
their  toils,  and  aid  them  with  his  counsels  and  his  prayers, 
he  showed  a  strong  regard  to  the  future  welfare  of  Isra- 
el, and  deeply  engraved  his  memory  upon  the  hearts  of 
the  young  prophets.  Unless  I  greatly  mistake  the  feel- 
ings of  my  aged  fathers,  their  eyes  will  be  bright  with 
joy  while  they  see  these  walls  go  up.  They  will  fall  on 
their  knees,  and  spread  their  hands  toward  heaven,  and 
give  us  their  dying  blessing  ;  and  may  their  prayer  return 
into  their  own  bosom. 

If  now,  in  my  concluding  remarks,  I  should  address 
you  as  Christians,  1  would  say.  This  institution,  if  per- 
mitted to  rse  ,  (and  we  look  to  God  for  this  permission.) 
and  if  not  grossly  perverted  from  its  original  design,  is 
connected  intimately  with  the  dispersion  of  that  Egyptian 
darkness  which  has  so  long  brooded  over  an  apostate 
world  ;  with  all  that  is  interesting  in  the  rescue  of  the 
idolater  from  his  gods,  the  Papist  from  his  relics  and  his 
saints,  the  Jew  from  his  Talmud,  the  Mahometan  from 
his  Koran,  the  African  from  his  chains,  and  the  assassin 
from  his  pistol  and  his  knife.  You  have  enlightened 
views  of  your  Maker,  have  a  Bible,  a  sabbath,  and  a  sanc- 
tuary, can  feast  at  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  entertain 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PKOPHKTS.  279 

hopes  of  a  rich  and  happy  immortality.  I  plead  for  those 
who  are  immortal  like  you.  and  like  you  must  die,  and 
be  judged,  but  have  never  learned  the  true  character  of 
God,  nor  heard  the  story  of  a  Saviour,  nor  have  discov- 
ered any  escape  from  the  glooms  of  the  sepulchre  :  who 
look  to  that  home  as  the  seat  of  perpetual  darkness,  for- 
getfulness  and  silence  ;  who  have  never  kept  a  day  of 
rest,  and  can  hope  to  remit  their  toils  their  cares  and 
their  miseries,  ouly  when  their  heads  shall  slumber  on 
the  turf.  Religion  would  make  them  as  happy  as  you, 
and  heaven  as  blessed. 

But  I  do  not  appeal  exclusively  to  piety,  but  to  all  the 
tender/,  elings  of  humanity.  When  you  cast  your  eye 
over  the  dark  places  of  the  earth,  which  are  full  of  the 
habitations  of  cruelty,  every  aspect  of  wretchedness 
which  you  descry  gives  importance  to  the  transactions 
of  this  day.  We  plead  for  the  unhappy,  for  the  lost,  and 
the  miserable.  I  think  I  see,  without  the  aid  of  inspira- 
tion, a  band  of  missionaries,  educated  in  this  school,  is- 
suing forth  to  chaso  misery  from  this  polluted  world. 

You  are  a  father,  are  loved  by  your  children,  and  cher- 
ished with  that  tenderness  which  your  infirmities  and 
your  age  require  ;  we  plead  for  fathers,  who  in  their  de- 
clining years  are  deserted  by  their  children,  and  left  to 
perish  by  the  frosts  of  age,  who  are  borne  to  the  bed  of 
some  river,  that  they  may  be  swept  away  by  the  tide, 
and  become  the  food  of  the  shark  or  the  alligator. 

You  are  a  mother,  and  perhaps  a  widow,  and  your 
children  would  shrink  from  no  sacrifice  that  might  pro- 
long your  life,  or  soothe  your  pains  or  your  cares  ;  I 
plead  for  mothers  whose  offspring  are  monsters,  and  can 
force  them  at  the  point  of  the  spear  upon  the  flames  that 
are  consuming  the  corpse  of  a  husband,  and  can  drown 
their  dying  shrieks  in  acclamations  of  infernal  joy. 


280  THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHT.TS. 

You  was  left  in  your  infancy  an  orphan,  and  have 
found  in  this  inhospitable  world  a  guardian  and  a 
friend,  who  has  nursed  your  childhood,  and  watched 
your  youth,  and  reared  you  to  respectable  and  promis- 
ing manhood ;  I  plead  for  orphans,  who  have  no  home 
but  in  the  pkce  of  sculls,  no  house  but  the  house  of  silence 
where  sleep  the  ashes  of  a  merciless  mother,  no  friend 
but  death,  who  stops  the  rage  of  hunger,  blunts  the  edge 
of  care,  extinguishes  the  fire  of  affection  and  hope,  and 
finds  the  wretched  a  covert  and  a  calm  amid  the  clods  of 
the  valley. 

If  the  relief  of  miseries  like  these  has  the  least  connec- 
tion with  the  events  of  this  day,  these  events  will  have 
some  claim  upon  the  sympathy  of  every  feeling  heart. 
If  we  might  only  hope,  that  by  means  of  tins  institution, 
one  more  missionary,  than  would  otherwise  be  educated, 
will  enter  the  fields  of  labor,  and  go  to  some  one  prov- 
ince of  this  dark  world,  and  there  create  a  light  that  shall 
guide  home  to  heaven  one  benighted  soul,  it  would  be 
worth  all  the  pains  and  the  wealth  that  shall  be  expend- 
ed in  founding  this  school.  *'  The  redemption  of  the 
soul  is  precious  and  it  ceaseth  forever."  You  might 
cover  that  field  with  silver  and  gold,  and  if  the  whole 
would  buy  off  one  soul  from  perdition  it  would  be  well 
expended.  And  I  must  believe  that  more  than  one  mis- 
sionary will  be  sent,  and  more  than  one  sinner  be  re- 
deemed, by  the  means  that  are  here  providing  ;  and  in 
the  boundless  joys  thus  generated,  shall  find  all  the  reward 
I  wrish.  for  any  plea  1  can  offer,  or  any  exertions  I  can 
make,  to  advance  this  interest. 

If  we  are  utterly  mistaken,  and  any  feel  otherwise,  we 
rejoice  that  the  field  of  labour  is  large.  They  may  glo- 
rify God  in  some  other  way,  may  feed  the  poor,  dis- 
perse the  Scriptures,   support  the  missionaries  already 


THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS.  281 

educated,  or  educate  others  in  some  other  school.  Or  if 
any  will  neither  aid  this  charity  nor  any  other,  and  their 
consciences  will  approve  of  their  neutrality,  they  shall  re- 
ceive no  reproach  from  us  if  they  do  nothing.  If  we  are 
disposed  to  do  good,  and  our  motive  is  the  glory  of  God, 
it  will  ill  become  us  to  reproach  others.  To  their  own 
master  they  stand  or  fall. 

In  the  mean  time,  I  hope  that  those  who  cannot  con- 
scientiously labour  with  us,  will  utter  no  reproaches,  nor 
make  any  effort  to  dam  the  streams  of  charity  that  might 
flow  to  this  centre,  and  issue  hence  to  carry  their  fertiliz- 
ing influence  through  the  wastes  of  this  miserable  world. 
If  once  the  object  was  good,  it  is  so  still.  If  unhappily 
some  may  not  have  had  in  view  the  divine  glory  in  their 
most  zealous  efforts,  still  the  character  of  the  institution 
is  not  changed,  nor  its  importance  diminished,  nor  its 
claims  cancelled.  I  close  with  one  remark  to  the  friends 
of  this  institution. 

How  important  is  it,  that  we  suitably  prize  and  im- 
prove the  ministry  established  among  us.  What  will  it 
avail  us  that  we  have  pitied  the  destitute,  and  the  hea- 
then, if  at  last  we  die  impenitent,  and  sink  below  them 
in  perdition.  We  may  send  them  the  Bible  and  the  am- 
bassador of  peace,  and  still  neglect  that  book  and  that 
ministry,  and  die  unsanctined.  The  ministry  can  be  a 
blessing  to  the  heathen,  only  as  it  may  become  the 
means  of  their  conversion ;  hence  to  feel  anxious  for 
them,  and  found  an  institution  with  a  view  to  furnish 
them  a  ministry,  and  yet  under  the  full  advantages  of 
that  ministry  live  without  God  and  without  Christ  in  the 
world,  is  to  act  with  unpardonable  disregard  of  our  first, 
best  duty.  It  would  be  a  fearful  event,  if  finally  we  should 
lift  up  our  voice  and  weep,  and  say,  "My  mother's 
children  made  me  the  keeper  of  the  vineyards,  but  mine 


2S2  THE  INDUSTRIOUS  YOUNG  PROPHETS. 

own  vineyard  have  I  not  kept.*'  Each  of  us  has  a  soul 
that  must  live  forever,  that  must  be  washed  in  a  Savior's 
blood,  or  must  endure  the  terrors  of  his  wrath  ;  to  save 
this  soul  is  our  first  concern,  and  we  may  wake  to  its  in- 
terests too  late.  If  we  should  give  all  our  goods  to  feed 
the  poor,  and  our  bodies  to  be  burned,  and  yet  lack  that 
charity  to  which  salvation  is  promised,  we  should  die 
fools  at  the  last.  It  is  true  that  the  religion  of  the  gospel 
is  benevolent ;  it  is  true  that  the  covetous  man  is  an  idol- 
ater, and  has  not  eternal  life  abiding  in  him,  but  there  is 
also  a  religion  which  all  evaporates  in  care  for  the  safety 
of  others,  which  has  little  to  do  with  the  closet,  or  the 
heart,  or  the  Bible,  or  heaven.  O  let  this  day  bring  us 
all  to  our  knees.  Let  the  walls  of  this  edifice  be  bedewed 
with  the  tears  of  repentance,  and  may  we  all  be  pillars  or 
polished  stones  in  the  mystical  temple,  which  Christ  is 
erecting,  that  when  the  top-stone  is  laid  we  may  be  there 
to  aid  the  shout,  Grace,  grace  unto  it.  "Amen,  even  so 
come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly." 


[It  is  the  opinion  and  the  grief  of  many,  that  the  excellent  sermons, 
and  other  writings,  of  President  Edwards,  are  too  much  neglected  by 
the  churches  of  the  present  day,  and  that  the  principal  cause  of  that 
neglect  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  style  in  which  his  pungency  of  thought 
is  communicated.  Hence  the  attempt  to  put  this  sermon  in  other  lan- 
guage as  an  experiment.  The  difficulty  of  the  task  none  will  doubt* 
who  shall  undertake  a  single  page.  If  the  attempt  should  fail,  still  no- 
thing is  lost,  and  much  may  be  gained  if  it  should  induce  some  other 
person  to  do,  more  successfully,  what  the  author  conceives  practicable 
and  important.] 


SERMON    LVIII. 

SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD. 

Deut.  xxxii.  35. 
Their  foot  shall  slide  in  due  time. 

God  here  threatens  the  unbelieving  Israelites,  who  en- 
joyed abundantly  the  means  of  grace,  and  saw  the  won- 
derful works  of  God,  yet  remained  void  of  counsel,  and 
brought  forth  bitter  and  poisonous  fruit. 

The  threatening  implies,  in  the  first  place,  that  they 
were  always  exposed  to  destruction.  One  who  stands 
on  a  slippery  place,  may  fall  at  any  moment.  He  whose 
foot  may  slide,  has  placed  it  where  his  standing  is  per- 
petually insecure.  The  Psalmist  uses  a  like  figure, 
"  Surely  thou  didst  set  them  in  slippery  places  ;  thou 
castedst  them  down  into  destruction." 

The  threatening  implies,  again,  that  they  were  always 
exposed  to  sudden  and  unexpected  destruction.  He 
who  walks  in  slippery  places  has  no  warning  when  he 
must  fall,  but  feels  as  perfectly  secure  the  instant  before 
he  falls  as  at  any  previous  moment.  So  the  Psalmist, 
after  exhibiting  the  sinner  as  standing  in  slippery  places, 
adds,  "  How  are  they  brought  into  desolation  as  in  a 
moment." 

It  is  also  implied  that  they  fall  of  themselves.  Their 
own  weight  will  cast  them  down,  if  no  power  extraneous 
be  applied  to  aid  their  fall. 

It  is  further  implied,  that  the  reason  why  they  have 
25 


SINNERS  IN  THB  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGR7  GOD. 

not  fallen,  is  that  God's  appointed  time  is  not  come. 
In  due  time  their  foot  shall  slide.  God  will  then  em- 
ploy his  power  no  longer  to  sustain  them,  and  their  own 
weight  will  bring  them  down.  At  that  very  juncture 
when  God  shall  resolve  no  longer  to  hold  them  up,  they 
go  down  into  destruction. 

Let  these  remarks  be  applied  to  sinners  in  every  age, 
and  they  tvill  thus  apply,  and  we  have  this  doctrine, 
It  is  the  mere  pleasure  of  God  that  keeps  wicked  men 
out  of  hell  a  moment.  The  sovereign  will  of  God, 
restrained  by  no  obligation,  hindered  by  no  difficulty, 
prevents  them  from  going  to  their  own  place.  The 
truth  of  this  observation  will  appear  from  the  following 
considerations. 

I.  There  is  no  want  of  power  in  God  to  destroy 
%oicked  men  at  any  moment.  No  arm  has  any  power 
of  resistance  when  God  rises  up.  None  can  deliver  out 
of  his  hands.  He  can  not  only  destroy,  but  he  can  do  it 
most  easily.  An  earthly  prince  may  find  it  difficult  to 
subdue  a  rebel.  He  may  fortify  himself,  and  gather 
round  his  standard  a  multitude  of  daring  adherents. 
But  no  fortress  can  make  any  resistance  to  the  power  of 
God.  The  enemies  of  God  may  combine  and  associate, 
but  they  are  easily  broken  to  pieces.  "  Though  hand 
join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished." 
They  are  but  as  the  chaff  before  the  whirlwind,  or  the 
stubble  before  devouring  flames. 

It  is  easy  to  tread  upon  and  crush  a  worm,  or  sunder 
a  thread,  and  just  so  easily  can  God  cast  dowrn  into  a 
hopeless  perdition  a  multitude  of  his  enemies.  At  his  re- 
buke the  earth  trembles,  and  rocks  are  rent  ;  what  then 
can  man  do  when  he  would  resist  God  'I 

II.  Sinners  every  moment  deserve  destruction.  Di- 
vine justice  will  make  no  resistance  whenever  God  shall 


SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD.  287 

please  to  show  his  wrath.  Indeed  justice  perpetually 
demands  their  blood.  Of  the  vine  that  brings  forth 
the  grapes  of  Sodom,  justice  says,  "  Cut  it  down,  why 
cumbereth  it  the  ground."  The  sword  of  justice  is  per- 
petually brandished  over  the  heads  of  the  ungodly,  and 
only  arbitrary  mercy  prevents  it  from  being  bathed  in 
their  blood. 

III.  Shiners  are  under  sentence  of  condemnation 
to  everlasting  misery.  They  not  only  justly  deserve 
to  be  cast  down  to  hell,  but  the  sentence  of  the  divine 
law,  the  immutable  rule  of  righteousness,  has  gone  out 
against  them,  and  stands  against  them.  They  are  ev- 
ermore bound  over  to  perdition.  "  He  that  believeth 
not  is  condemned  already.  "  Hence  every  unconverted 
man  belongs  to  hell,  it  is  his  own  place.  "  Ye  aroUA)m 
beneath."  Thither  the  broken  law  has  sentenced  sin- 
ners and  the  law  is  unchangeable. 

IV.  Sinners  are  even  now  the  objects  of  that  very 
same  wrath  of  God,  that  is  expressed  in  the  torments 
of  hell.  The  reason  why  they  do  not  perish  at  each 
moment,  is  not  because  God,  in  whose  power  they  are, 
is  not  even  as  angry  with  them,  as  he  is  with  those  who 
are  now  feeling  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath.  Yes,  God 
is  more  angry  with  many  who  are  yet  spared,  yea,  doubt- 
less, with  many  in  this  assembly,  who  are  quite  at  ease, 
than  with  some  who  are  lost. 

It  is  not  then  that  God  is  unmindful  of  their  wicked- 
ness, and  does  not  resent  it,  that  he  does  not  let  loose 
his  hand  upon  them  and  cut  them  off.  He  is  not  as 
they  imagine  altogether  such  a  one  as  themselves.  The 
wrath  of  God  burns  against  them  ;  their  damnation  slum- 
bers not  ;  the  pit  is  prepared  ;  the  fire  is  made  ready  ;  the 
flames  even  now  rage,  ready  to  receive  them.     The  glit- 


288  SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD. 

tering  sword  is  whetted  and  held  over  them.     Mercy  cries 
spare  them  ;  justice  is  ready  to  destroy  them. 

V.  The  grand  adversary  stands  ready  to  torment 
them,  soon  as  God  shall  permit.  They  belong  to  him, 
he  has  them  in  his  possession,  and  under  his  dominion. 
u  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil."  He  ever  watches 
wicked  men,  has  tliem  at  his  right  hand,  is  waiting  to  de- 
vour them,  as  a  lion  hungry  for  his  prey.  Let  God  only 
withdraw  restraint  from  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in 
the  children  of  disobedience,  and  he  would  become  the 
executioner  of  divine  wrath  in  a  moment.  Hell  opens 
its  mouth  wide  to  receive  sinners,  and  if  God  only  permit, 
they  are  all  swallowed  up  and  lost  in  a  moment. 

VI.  There  are  reigning  in  wicked  men  those  infer* 
nil.  p&nciples,  that  would  immediately  create  a  hell 
in  their  bosoms,  but  for  the  restraints  that  God  im- 
poses. In  the  very  nature  of  the  carnal  mind,  there  is 
laid  a  foundation  for  the  torments  of  hell.  Its  miseries 
are  indeed  begun  already  in  the  hearts  of  the  unsanctified. 
The  principles  of  depravity  are  active  and  powerful,  and 
would  from  their  violence,  were  it  not  for  God's  restraints, 
break  out  into  an  immediate  and  open  perdition,  as  the 
same  corruptions  do  in  the  hearts  of  the  damned.  The 
soids  of  the  wicked  are  like  the  troubled  sea,  but  God 
restrains  them  as  he  does  the  foaming  billows,  "  Hitherto 
shalt  thou  come,  and  no  farther.  "  And  whenever  that 
Strong  barrier  is  removed,  there  will  ensue  a  fearful  and 
a  wide-spread  destruction.  Sin  produces  the  misery, 
and  is  the  destroyer  of  the  soul.  To  effect  the  ruin  of  its 
possessor  is  its  very  nature,  and  needs  no  helper  in  order 
to  produce  complete  destruction.  The  corruption  of  the 
heart  is  immoderate  and  boundless  in  its  fury.  It  is  a 
fire  pent  up  by  divine  restraint,  and  will  kindle  into  con- 
flagration the  whole  course  of  nature,  when  God  shall 


SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD.  289 

permit.  The  heart  is  a  dark  sink  of  sin,  a  fiery  oven, 
where  are  all  the  materials  of  torment,  whenever  they 
shall  be  once  kindled. 

VII.  It  is  no  security  to  wicked  'men  one  moment \ 
that  there  are  no  visible  means  of  death  at  hand.  Pres- 
ent good  health  is  no  security.  One  may  go  out  of  the 
world  by  accident,  and  that  even  when  danger  may  seem 
the  most  remote.  The  manifold  and  continual  experi- 
ence of  the  world  in  all  ages,  shows  that  the  best  health, 
and  the  fairest  prospects  of  life,  are  no  evidence  that  men 
are  not  on  the  very  brink  of  eternity,  ready  to  launch  the 
next  step  into  the  perdition  they  deserve.  The  innu- 
merable, and  inconceivable  ways  and  means  of  terminat- 
ing life,  should  forever  impress  the  fact  of  its  uncertainty. 
Impenitent  men  walk  over  the  burning  pit,  on  a  rotten 
covering,  a  covering  in  many  places  too  weak  to  sustain 
them,  but  that  God  holds  them  back  from  the  danger 
that  awaits  them.  The  arrows  of  death  fly  unseen  at 
noon  day,  and  the  sharpest  human  sight  cannot  descry 
them.  God  has  an  infinite  variety  of  means  by  which 
to  accomplish  the  purposes  of  his  wrath,  whenever  he  is 
ready  to  execute  them.  He  need  be  at  no  expense,  need 
work  no  miracle,  nor  go  out  of  his  ordinary  course  of  pro- 
vidence, to  send  the  wicked  to  hell  at  any  moment, 
And  the  means  of  their  ruin  are  all  in  the  hands  of  God, 
and  so  absolutely  subject  to  his  power  and  his  will,  that 
sinners  are  as  much  exposed  as  if  God  uniformly  destroy^ 
ed  without  means. 

VIII.  Sinners  can  exercise  no  care  or  prudence  that 
can  secure  their  lives  a  moment.  To  this  fact,  univer- 
sal experience,  and  the  passing  events  of  divine  provi^ 
dence,  bear  their  united  and  irresistable  testimony. 
Were  it  otherwise  we  should  see  the  wise  and  discerning 
Laying  their  plans  for  long  life,  and  they  would  so  con„ 

35* 


290  SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD. 

trive,  if  wealth  and  wisdom  united  could  do  it,  as  to 
prolong  their  stay  in  this  world  beyond  all  their  fel- 
lows. But  these  men  often  die  the  first,  and  usually 
with  their  plans  so  laid  that  death  greatly  surprises 
them,  and  often  fatally  destroys  their  interest  as  well 
as  their  souls.  "  How  dieth  the  wise  man  ?  As  the 
fool." 

IX.  All  the  efforts  of  wicked  men  to  escape  hell, 
while  they  reject  Christ,  are  of  not  the  least  avail 
to  keep  them  out  of  perdition  a  moment.  Every 
man  who  has  heard  of  hell,  flatters  himself  on  making 
his  escape  from  its  torments.  But  he  depends  on  him- 
self, on  what  he  has  done,  is  doing,  or  intends  to  do,  as 
the  medium  of  his  escape  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Every 
man  so  lays  his  plau,  as  to  secure  himself,  and  is  flat- 
tered with  the  belief  that  his  plan  is  good.  They  hear 
that  there  are  but  few  saved,  and  know  the  probability 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  present  generations  go  to  per- 
dition. But  each  sinner  intends  to  be  among  the  few 
that  are  saved.  He  does  not  mean  to  go  to  the  place  of 
torment.  He  purposes  that  his  care  for  the  soul  shall  be 
effectual,  and  heaven  shall  be  secured. 

But  men  miserably  delude  themselves  in  their  own 
schemes,  and  trust  finally  in  a  mere  shadow.  The  great- 
er part  who  have  lived  under  the  same  means  of  grace 
have  undoubtedly  gone  to  perdition.  And  they  did  not 
perish  because  they  were  not  as  wise  as  sinners  now  are, 
not  because  they  did  not  think  of  an  escape,  and  contrive 
for  it,  as  men  now  do.  Could  we  speak  with  them,  and 
inquire  of  them,  one  by  one,  whether  they  expected  when 
alive,  and  used  to  hear  of  hell,  to  be  one  day  the  subjects 
of  that  misery,  we  should  doubtless  hear  them  reply  one 
by  one,  No,  No,  I  never  intended  to  come  here.  I  had 
calculated  far  otherwise  in  my  own  mind.     I  thought  I 


SINNEIIS  IN   THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD.  291 

had  contrived  well  for  myself.  I  thought  my  scheme 
good,  but  death  came  upon  me,  and  hell,  unexpectedly. 
I  was  not  looking  for  destruction  at  that  time,  and  in  that 
manner.  It  came  like  a  thief  in  the  night.  Death  out- 
witted me.  The  wrath  of  God  was  too  quick  for  me. 
O  my  accursed  foolishness  !  I  was  flattering  myself, 
and  pleasing  myself,  with  vain  dreams,  of  what  I  would 
do  to  save  my  soul.  And  while  I  was  saying,  peace  and 
safety,  sudden  destruction  came  upon  me. 

X.  God  has  not  laid  himself  under  obligation, 
by  promise  or  otherwise,  to  keep  wicked  men  out 
of  misery  a  moment.  No  promise  of  God  gives  them 
eternal  life,  or  secures  them  from  eternal  death,  but  what 
is  contained  in  the  covenant  of  grace.  It  is  in  Jesus 
Christ  that  the  promises  are  all  yea  and  amen.  But  un- 
sanctified  men  have  no  interests  in  the  promises  of  the 
covenant.  They  are  not  children  of  the  covenant,  do 
not  believe  the  promises  of  the  covenant,  and  have  no 
interest  in  the  Media'or  of  the  covenant. 

Hence  whatever  some  may  have  imagined  or  pretend- 
ed respecting  the  promises,  as  made  to  the  seekings  and 
knockings  of  the  un regenerate,  it  is  plain  that  whatever 
pains  they  may  take  in  religion,  or  whatever  prayers 
they  may  offer,  till  Christ  is  believed  in,  God  is  under  no 
manner  of  obligation  to  keep  them  a  moment  from  eter- 
nal destruction. 

Thus  men  who  do  not  love  God  are  suspended  upon 
uncovenanted  mercy.  They  have  deserved  perdition 
and  are  sentenced  to  it,  and  God  is  provoked  enough 
with  them  to  destroy  them,  even  as  much  as  toward 
many  who  have  perished,  and  they  have  done  nothino- 
to  appease  or  abate  that  anger,  nor  is  God  in  the  least 
obligated  to  them  by  promise  or  otherwise.  The  grand 
foe  is  waiting  for  them,  and  hell  moving  from  beneath  to 


292  SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD 

meet  them  at  their  coming,  and  its  fires  already  kindled 
in  their  bosom,  and  ready  to  burst  out  into  a  consuming 
and  quenchless  conflagration  ;  and  no  interest  in  a 
Mediator,  and  no  means  within  their  reach  that  can  be 
any  security  against  a  speedy  and  hopeless  perdition. 
Sinners  have  no  refuge,  nothing  to  stand  on,  and  nothing 
to  take  hold  of.  They  are  kept  out  of  endless  torment 
by  the  nncovenanted,  unobliged  forbearance  of  a  holy 
God,  who  has  been  long  incensed  with  their  multiplied 
iniquities,  and  is  unchangeably  at  enmity  with  their 
polluted  characters. 

APPLICATION. 

The  very  nature  of  this  subject  shows  to  whom  it  is 
especially  applicable.  It  belongs  to  the  whole  mass  of 
unregenerate  men.  You  see  the  forlorn  condition  in 
which  the  gospel  finds  you.  The  world  of  misery  isex- 
tenJed  broad  under  you.  The  glowing  flames  of  the 
wrath  of  God  are  all  ready  to  kindle  upon  you.  Thus 
a  deep  and  wide  perdition  yawns  beneath  you,  and  you 
have  nothing  to  stand  upon  or  take  hold  of.  The  thin 
air  only  separates  you  from  the  fire  that  shall  never  be 
quenched,  and  the  worm  that  shall  never  die.  The 
power  of  God  holds  you  up,  and  his  uncovenanted 
pleasure  sustains  you. 

But  of  all  this  you  may  have  no  proper  sense.  You 
find  you  are  held  up,  and  do  not  see  the  hand  that  holds 
you.  You  rely  on  your  good  constitution,  on  the  care 
that  you  take  of  your  life,  and  the  means  used  to  render 
it  prolonged  and  happy.  But  all  these  things  are  nothing, 
if  God  should  withdraw  his  hand,  and  would  avail  no 
more  to  hold  you  back  from  the  place  of  torment,  than 
mere  air  to  stop  a  falling  rock. 

Your  wickedness  makes  you  tend  downward,  with  a 


SINNERS  IN  THE  HAND3  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD.  293 

weight  and  a  pressure  like  solid  lead.  God  has  only  to 
let  you  go,  and  quick  as  thought,  you  descend  to  the  bot- 
tomless gulf,  your  good  health,  and  sound  constitution, 
and  care,  and  prudence  notwithstanding.  Your  wisdom 
and  your  righteousness  would  have  no  more  influence 
to  hold  you  back  from  the  doom  you  deserve,  than  the 
spider's  web.  Were  it  not  that  such  is  the  sovereign 
pleasure  of  God,  the  earth  would  not  sustain  you  a 
moment,  you  are  a  burden  to  it,  the  creation  groans  with 
you.  We  are  assured,  that  the  creature  was  made  sub- 
ject to  the  bondage  of  your  corruptions,  not  willingly. 
The  sun  does  not  cheerfully  light  you  in  the  broad  way, 
nor  the  earth  willingly  yield  you  her  increase,  to  satisfy 
your  lusts,  or  become  willingly  the  theatre  of  your  crimes, 
nor  does  the  air  willingly  serve  you  for  breath,  to  main- 
tain the  flame  of  life,  while  that  life  is  not  devoted  to 
God.  All  the  creatures  of  God  are  good,  and  were  made 
to  be  the  instruments  of  his  praise,  and  while  they  are 
used  for  any  other  purpose,  are  forced  out  of  their  ele- 
ment, and  groan  being  burdened.  The  world  is  ready 
to  vomit  forth  you  and  your  sins,  and  be  no  longer  pol- 
luted with  your  base  affections,  and  your  misdeeds. 
The  tempests  of  divine  wrath,  hang  over  your  heads, 
full  of  relentless  fire,  and  thunder,  and  tornado,  all  ready 
to  break  forth  upon  you  at  God's  bidding.  It  is  the 
sovereign  pleasure  of  God  that  stays  his  rough  wind,  or 
it  would  bear  down  upon  you  with  fury,  and  your  des- 
truction would  come  as  a  whirlwind,  and  you  would  be 
like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing  floor. 

As  waters  dammed  up,  increase  more  and  more,  and 
rise  higher  and  higher,  till  an  outlet  is  given,  and  the  lon- 
ger stopped,  the  more  rapid  and  overwhelming  its  course, 
so  is  the  anger  of  God.  He  has  not  speedily  executed 
jugdment  upon  your  evil  work  ;  the  floods  of  his  ven^ 


291  SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD. 

geance  have  been  withheld,  but  your  guilt  in  the  mean 
time  has  perpetually  increased,  you  are  every  day  treas- 
uring up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath  ;  but  when  at 
length  this  accumulated  mischief  shall  burst  upon  your 
head,  there  is  none  can  tell  the  doleful  tale  of  your  ruin. 
Let  God  only  withdraw  his  hand  from  the  flood-gate  that 
stays  the  terrors  of  your  destruction,  and  there  pours  forth, 
with  inconceivable  power,  a  stream  of  wrath,  which  the 
stoutest  man,  with  his  strength  doubled  a  hundred  times, 
or  the  sturdiest  devil,  could  do  nothing  to  withstand  or 
endure. 

And  how  comfortless  then  to  the  sinner  all  this  delay  ! 
It  augers  nothing  to  his  ultimate  advantage.  The  bow 
of  God's  wrath  is  bent,  and  the  arrow  made  ready  on  the 
string,  and  aimed  at  his  heart ;  and  but  the  mere  pleas- 
ure of  God,  an  offended,  insulted,  long  abused  God  ;  a 
God,  whom  no  promise  or  obligation  has  bound,  holds 
back  the  arrow  from  being  drunk  with  his  blood. 

Thus  is  it  with  all  in  this  assembly  who  have  not  pass- 
ed a  great  change  wrought  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  all 
that  have  not  been  born  again,  been  made  new  crea- 
tures, been  raised  from  darkness  and  death  to  light  and 
life  in  Jesus  Christ,  you  are  all  in  the  hands  of  an  angry 
God  ;  your  reformed  life,  and  your  religious  affections, 
your  family  and  closet  prayers,  and  hypocritical  sanc- 
tuary devotions,  all  notwithstanding.  The  sovereign 
pleasure  of  a  God  angry  with  you  keeps  you  from  per- 
dition. And  if  not  convinced  of  this  truth  now,  you 
will  be  fully  convinced  not  long  first.  Those  who  were 
once  in  your  circumstances  remember  how  it  was  with 
them,  that  they  would  not  believe  till  destruction  came 
suddenly  upon  them.  Now  they  see  that  they  leaned 
upon  a  straw,  upon  mere  air,  upon  a  shadow. 

And  what  is  a  truth  of  awful  import,  the  God  that 


SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD.      295 

holds  sinners  up  from  perdition,  as  one  holds  a  loathsome 
insect  over  the  glowing  embers,  is  angry  with  them,  is 
fearfully  provoked,  his  anger  burns  like  fire.  He  views 
you  as  fit  for  nothing  else  but  to  suffer  in  honour  of  his 
law.  He  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  bear  you  long  in  his 
sight.  He  sees  no  such  deformity  elsewhere  as  he  sees 
in  you,  not  even  in  the  most  loathsome  serpent.  No 
rebel  ever  offended  his  prince  as  you  have  offended  God, 
and  still  his  own  kind  hand  holds  you  back  from  the 
doom  you  deserve.  To  nothing  else  can  it  be  ascribed 
that  you  went  not  to  the  place  of  torment  the  last  night, 
that  you  waked  from  sleep  this  morning,  that  you  have 
not  perished  since  you  waked,  and  that  you  do  not  this 
moment  quit  us  to  go  to  the  world  of  misery.  The 
iniquities  of  your  hearts,  while  you  sit  here  under  the 
sound  of  the  gospel  rejecting  a  Saviour,  constantly  tempt 
him  to  abandon  you  forever. 

O  sinner !  consider  the  danger  you  are  in.  The  per- 
dition that  yawns  beneath  you  is  wide  and  bottomless, 
and  the  God  who  holds  you  up  from  it  is  fearfully  in- 
censed against  you,  even  as  he  is  against  those  who  have 
gone  to  suffer  their  doom.  The  moment  will  come,  and 
may  while  I  am  speaking,  that  shall  see  the  thread  sun- 
dered that  sustains  you.  And  you  no  interest  in  a  Medi- 
ator, no  hiding  place,  nothing  to  lay  hold  of  to  prevent 
your  fall,  nothing  to  appease  the  divine  indignation 
nothing  that  you  have  done,  nothing  that  you  are  doing- 
nothing  that  you  can  do.  Your  whole  interest  is  at 
hazard,  and  your  soul  at  hazard. 

Let  me  suggest  four  thoughts  respecting  the  wrath  you 
are  in  danger  of,  and  I  have  done. 

1.  Whose  wrath  it  is.  It  is  the  wrath  of  the  infinite 
God.  Were  it  merely  the  wrath  of  man,  though  of  the 
most  powerful  prince,  it  would  be  comparatively  nothing. 


296  SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD. 

The  wrath  of  a  king  is  dreadful,  especially  of  an  absolute 
monarch,  who  has  the  possessions  and  the  lives  of  his 
subjects  wholly  in  his  power.  "  The  fear  of  a  king  is  as 
the  roaring  of  a  lion  :  whoso  provoketh  him  to  anger, 
sinneth  against  his  own  soul/'  He  who  very  much  en- 
rages an  arbitrary  prince  may  suffer  the  greatest  torments 
that  human  art  can  invent,  or  human  power  inflict.  But 
the  greatest  potentate,  in  his  greatest  strength,  and  clothed 
in  his  fiercest  terrors,  is  a  feeble  despicable  worm  compar- 
ed with  the  King  of  kings.  A  mere  man  can  do  but 
little,  when  most  enraged,  and  when  he  puts  forth  all 
his  might.  But  the  wrath  of  God  is  as  much  more  ter- 
rible as  his  majesty  is  greater.  "  And  I  say  unto  you, 
my  friends,  be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and 
after  that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do,  But  I  will 
forwarn  you  whom  you  shall  fear :  fear  him,  which  after 
he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell :  yea,  I  say 
unto  you,  fear  him." 

2.  Not  only  is  it  the  wrath  of  God,  but  the  fierceness 
of  his  wrath  to  which  you  are  exposed.  We  read  you 
know  of  the  fury  of  God.  li\ According  to  their  deeds,  ac- 
cordingly he  will  repay  fury  to  his  adversaries."  And 
again  we  read,  :'  Behold  the  Lord  will  come  with  fire, 
and  with  his  chariots  like  a  whirlwind,  to  render  his  an- 
ger with  fury,  and  his  rebuke  with  flames  of  fire." 

So  we  read  of  his  fierceness.  We  are  told  of  "  the 
winepress  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God." 
What  an  awful  climax  is  here.  Not  merely  have  we 
the  wrath  of  God,  though  this  would  have  been  in- 
finitely dreadful,  but  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  God, 
and  it  adds  again,  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Al- 
mighty God.  How  dreadful  must  that  be  !  Who  can 
utter,  or  even  conceive  what  such  expressions  carry  with 
them.     It  would  seem  as  though  there   will  be  a  very 


SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD.  2i)7 

great  manifestation  of  the  power  of  the  great  God  in  the 
overthrow  of  sinners,  as  though  Omnipotence  should  be 
enraged  and  exerted,  as  men  are  wont  to  put  forth  their 
strength  when  infuriated.  O  then  what  will  be  the  con- 
sequence !  What  will  become  of  the  poor  worm  that 
shall  suffer  it !  Whose  hands  can  be  strong,  and  whose 
heart  endure  !  To  what  inconceivay^cfepths  of  misery 
must  the  poor  creature  be  sunk  who  shall  be  the  subject 
of  this  inexpressible  torment ! 

Consider  this  all  ye  that  are  unregenerate,  when  God 
shall  execute  the  fierceness  of  his  anger,  there  will  be 
wrath  without  pity.  When  God  shall  behold  the  ex- 
tremity of  your  case,  and  see  that  your  torment  is  wholly 
disproportioned  to  your  strength,  and  see  your  poor  soul 
crushed  and  sinking  into  incurable  gloom  and  despair  ; 
he  will  have  no  compassion  upon  you,  nor  forbear  the 
execution  of  his  wrath,  nor  lighten  his  hand.  There 
will  be  no  moderation  or  mercy,  nor  will  God  stay  his 
rough  wind.  He  can  then  have  no  regard  to  your  wel- 
fare, nor  care  how  much  you  suffer,  so  that  you  do  not 
endure  more  than  you  deserve,  and  will  withhold  nothing, 
merely  because  it  is  hard  for  you  to  bear.  "  Therefore 
will  I  also  deal  in  fury  ;  mine  eye  shall  not  spare,  neither 
will  I  have  pity  ;  and  though  they  cry  in  mine  ears  with 
a  loud  voice,  yet  will  I  not  hear  them."  God  now  stands 
ready  to  pity,  this  is  a  day  of  mercy,  you  may  cry  with 
the  hope  of  being  heard.  But  let  the  day  of  grace  pass, 
and  all  your  lamentations,  your  cries,  and  shrieks  will  be 
in  vain.  You  will  then  be  lost,  and  thrown  away,  and 
God  have  nothing  to  do  with  you,  but  to  make  you  a  per- 
petual sufferer.  You  will  be  continued  in  being  for  no 
other  purpose,  will  be  a  vessel  of  wrath  fitted  for  des- 
truction, and  the  vessel  will  be  of  no  other  use  but  to  be 
filled  with  wrath.     God  will  be  so  far  from  pitying  yoiu 

20 


298  SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD. 

that  he  will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  and  mock  when 
your  fear  cometh. 

How  awful  are  those  words  of  the  great  God,  "  I  will 
tread  them  in  my  anger,  and  trample  them  in  my  fury, 
and  their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled  upon  my  garments, 
and  I  will  stain  all  my  raiment."  What  words  can  more 
plainly  declare  contempt,  hatred,  and  fierceness  of  indig- 
nation. If  you  cry  to  God,  he  will  but  tread  you  under 
his  feet,  and  although  he  will  know  that  you  cannot  en- 
dure the  awful  weight,  he  will  tread  upon  you  without 
mercy,  till  your  blood  shall  gush  out  and  stain  his  raiment. 
He  will  not  only  hate  you,  but  will  have  you  in  the  ut- 
most contempt.  He  will  think  no  place  fit  for  you  but 
under  his  feet,  to  be  trodden  down  like  the  mire  of  the 
streets. 

3.  God  will  thus  afflict  you  that  he  may  show  his 
wrath.  God  has  it  in  his  heart  to  show  to  angels  and 
to  men,  both  how  excellent  his  love  is,  and  how  terrible 
his  wrath  is.  Earthly  kings  have  sometimes  a  mind  to 
show  the  terrors  of  their  wrath,  by  the  punishments  they 
inflict  upon  their  foes.  The  Chaldean  monarch  was 
willing  to  show  his  wrath  in  the  punishment  of  Shadrach 
Meshach,  and  Abednego,  and  he  gave  orders  to  heat 
the  burning  fiery  furnace  seven  times  hotter  than  it  was 
wont  to  be  heated.  It  was  raised  to  the  utmost  degree 
of  fierceness,  so  that  it  slew  the  men  who  cast  them  in. 
So  the  great  God  is  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and  mag- 
nify his  awful  majesty  in  the  extreme  suffering  of  his 
enemies.  "  What  if  God  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and 
to  make  his  power  known,  endured  with  much  long- 
suffering,  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction  ?"  It 
being  his  design  to  show  how  terrible  his  unmixed  wrath 
is,  he  will  do  it  to  effect.  The  accomplishment  of  what 
God  has  said  against  the  wicked  will  be  dreadful.     When 


SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD.  299 

he  has  risen  up,  and  done  his  will  on  the  poor  lost  being1, 
and  the  wretch  is  actually  suffering  the  weight  of  his  in- 
dignation, then  will  he  summon  the  universe  to  come, 
and  see  how  awful  is  his  majesty,  and  how  mighty  his 
power.  "And  the  people  shall  be  as  the  burnings  of 
lime,  as  thorns  cut  up  shall  they  be  burned  in  the  fire. 
Hear,  ye  that  are  afar  off,  what  I  have  done ;  and  ye  that 
are  near,  acknowledge  my  might.  The  sinners  in  Zion 
are  afraid  ;  fearfulness  hath  surprised  the  hypocrites  ; 
who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  the  devouring  fire?  who 
among  us  shall  dwell  with  everlasting  burnings." 

Thus  shall  it  be  with  you  who  shall  remain  unconver- 
ted. In  the  ineffable  terrors  of  your  ruin,  there  will  be 
displayed  the  might,  and  the  majesty,  and  the  terrible- 
ness  of  the  Omnipotent  God.  You  will  be  tormented  in 
the  presence  of  the  holy  angels,  and  in  the  presence  of 
the  Lamb ;  and  when  you  shall  be  in  all  your  sufferings, 
the  glorious  inhabitants  of  heaven  shall  come  and  look 
upon  the  awful  spectacle,  and  learn  what  is  the  wrath 
and  fierceness  of  Almighty  God,  and  when  they  have 
looked  they  will  fall  down  and  adore  his  power  and 
majesty,  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new 
moon  to  another,  and  from  one  sabbath  to  another,  shall 
all  flesh  come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
And  they  shall  go  forth,  and  look  upon  the  carcasses  of 
the  men  that  have  transgressed  against  me  ;  for  their 
worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their  fire  be  quenched  ; 
and  they  shall  be  an  abhorring  unto  all  flesh." 

4.  It  is  everlasting  wrath.  It  would  be  dreadful  to 
suffer  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God  one 
moment,  but  sinners  must  suffer  it  forever.  There 
will  be  no  end  to  your  plagues.  When  you  look  for- 
ward you  will  see  before  you  a  long  forever,  and  will  des- 
pair of  having  deliverance,  mitigation,  or  rest  through 


300  SINNERS  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  AN  ANGRY  GOD. 

this  whole  amazing  futurity.  You  will  know  certainly 
that  you  must  wear  out  millions  of  ages,  in  wrestling 
and  conflicting  with  matchless  vengeance.  And  when 
these  ages  are  gone,  you  will  see  them  to  be  but  a  point 
of  time  to  what  remains.  Endless  misery!  Oh,  who 
can  describe  the  horrid  circumstances  of  a  ruined  soul  ? 
What  one  can  say  on  such  a  subject,  is  all  feebleness 
compared  with  the  reality.  "Who  knows  the  power  of 
his  anger  7  " 

How  inconceivably  dreadful  is  the  state  of  those  who 
are  daily  and  hourly  in  danger  of  this  wrath  and  misery  ! 
But  this  is  the  dismal  case  of  every  soul  in  this  congre- 
gation who  is  not  born  of  God,  be  his  morals  ever  so  strict, 
and  sober,  and  religious.  O  that  you  would  consider  it 
whether  you  be  old  or  young  !  Many  who  are  present 
will  probably  be  the  subjects  of  this  very  misery  through 
eternity.  We  know  not  who  they  are,  or  in  what  seats 
they  sit,  or  what  thoughts  they  have.  They  are  perhaps 
at  their  ease,  and  hear  all  this  without  being  in  the  least 
disturbed.  They  are  saying  to  themselves,  It  is  not  I,  I 
shall  escape.  Did  we  know  that  there  was  one  person, 
and  but  one  in  this  wdiole  congregation,  who  is  to  be  the 
subject  of  all  this  misery,  how  should  we  all  gaze  with  an- 
guish upon  him  !  how  should  we  raise  over  him  our  loud 
and  bitter  cry  !  Ah  one  !  no  doubt  there  are  many  pres- 
ent who  will  think  of  this  sermon  in  hell,  and  some  per- 
haps  in  a  very  few  days,  or  months  at  farthest.  Ah 
calculate  not  on  months,  for  notwithstanding  your  health 
and  quiet,  and  security,  hell  may  have  become  your 
home  ere  the  sun  shall  rise  once  more. 


AN    ADDRESS. 

THE   INFLUENCE   OF    A    GOOD   TASTE  UPON  THE 
MORAL  AFFECTIONS. 

The  question  has  been  often  asked,  whether  this 
is  a  deformed  or  a  beautiful  world ;  whether  it  came 
from  the  hand  of  its  Maker  in  its  present  aspect,  or  has 
been  marred  and  defaced  by  some  mighty  disaster.  Men 
have  had  on  this  subject  widely  different  opinions.  One 
has  seen  nothing  in  which  this  world  is  defective  ;  no 
mountain  he  would  have  levelled,  no  valley  he  would 
raise,  no  rock  he  would  bury,  no  marsh  he  would  drain, 
no  heath  he  would  fertilize,  no  morass  he  would  redeem, 
Another  has  seen,  or  thought  he  saw  deformity  every 
where,  and  has  in  many  a  gloomy  hour  responded  to 
that  moan  of  the  poet,  uttered  in  view  of  the  first  trans-- 
gression  : 

"  Earth  felt  the  wound,  and  Nature,  from  her  seat 
Sighing  through  all  her  works,  gave  signs  of  wo, 
That  all  was  lost." 

To  him  it  has  seemed,  that  in  every  hill  and  vale  and 
ocean  and  lake  and  heath  and  river  there  is  some  curse 
to  be  deplored.  Others  again  have  discovered  on  the 
face  of  this  world  many  beauties,  which  must  have  been 
designed  as  such  by  its  Creator  ;  while  yet  they  see  de- 
formities, which  indicate,  that  when  Jehovah  rested 
from  his  work  he  left  this  world  not  as  it  now  is,  and 
which  bespeak  some  convulsion,  by  which  its  distortions 


304  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

have  been  generated,  and  much  of  its  original  beauty 
lost.  Some  of  its  most  elevated  ridges  wear  the  marks 
of  having  risen  from  the  ocean,  while  the  presumption  is, 
that  what  were  once  its  mountains  are  now  buried  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea. 

That  the  earth  has  been  swept  over  by  some  deluge 
passing  from  north  to  south,  is  too  obvious  to  admit  of  a 
doubt.  But  whether  the  event,  happen  when  or  how  it 
might,  finally  left  the  surface  of  the  world  deformed  or 
beau  if  ul,  may  still  be  a  question  to  be  decided,  very  dif- 
ferently perhaps,  by  our  different  tastes.  One  man  will 
see  deformity  in  some  cases  where  another  sees  only 
beauty.  It  may  even  be  questioned,  whether  men  of 
equally  improved  tastes  will  invariably  agree  in  what  is 
beautiful,  and  what  deformed  in  the  sceneries  of  nature. 
One  may  have  a  taste  only  for  what  is  plain,  and  another 
for  what  is  splendid.  One  may  be  most  gratified  when 
in  his  landscape  there  are  seen  the  barren  rock,  and  the 
broken  cliff;  while  another,  who  can  be  pleased  only 
with  what  is  useful,  must  see  every  spot  fertile,  have 
every  rock  concealed,  and  every  eminence  accessible. 
Which  of  these  have  the  best  taste,  is  a  question  on 
which  ingenuity  might  employ  itself  most  elegantly, 
and  not  without  profit. 

Whether  taste  should  be  denominated  an  internal 
sense,  or  juJgment  operating  without  any  perceptible 
process  of  reasoning,  is  of  small  moment;  for  whatever 
difficulties  there  may  be  in  defining,  there  is  none  in 
understanding  it.  "  Taste,"  says  an  elegant  writer,  "  is 
of  all  nature's  gifts  the  most  easily  felt,  and  the  most 
difficult  to  explain  ;  it  would  not  be  what  it  is,  if  it  could 
be  defined  ;  for  it  judges  of  objects  beyond  the  reach  of 
jugdment,  and  serves  in  a  manner  as  a  magnifying  glass 
to  reason."     I  have  supposed  it  not  wide  from  the  truth 


AN    ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED   BEFORE  THE 


ALEXANDRIAN    SOCIETY 


AMHERST    COLLEGE, 

AUGUST   21,    1S27. 


2G4 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  305 

to  say,  that  taste  is  a  sense  of  the  understanding,  holding 
much  the  same  relation  to  objects  of  nature  and  art,  that 
conscience,  another  sense,  holds  to  moral  objects.  As  one 
has  been  defined,  "  The  power  of  receiving  pleasure  or 
pain  from  the  beauties  or  deformities  of  nature  and  of 
art  ;"  so  the  other,  may  be  termed,  the  power  of  receiv- 
ing pleasure  or  pain  from  moral  beauty  or  deformity. 
Hence,  to  trace  the  resemblance  a  little  farther,  as  there 
may  be  a  vitiated  conscience  that  shall  approve  of  the 
most  abominable  deeds,  so  there  may  be  a  vitiated  taste 
that  is  pleased  with  what  is  beyond  doubt  a  deformity. 
I  am  aware  that  this  remark  however  involves  the  ques- 
tion, whether  there  is  any  standard  of  taste  founded  in 
the  principles  of  the  human  constitution,  or  whether 
casual  association  is  to  account  for  all  our  notions  in 
matters  of  taste. 

But  leaving  all  these  questions  to  men  of  more  leisure, 
I  propose  to  enquire,  whether  a  cultivated  taste  exerts 
a  favourable  influence  upon  the  moral  affections.  I 
have  supposed  the  affirmative  of  this  question  capable  of 
the  fullest  proof,  and  that  the  discussion  of  it  would  lead 
to  a  great  variety  of  practical  and  important  remarks  suit- 
ed to  this  occasion.     I  would  say  then,  in  the 

First  place,  That  a  cultivated  taste  tends  to  soothe 
and  restrain  the  unruly  and  turbulent  passiotis.  I 
venture  to  assert,  that,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  except- 
ed, there  is  no  power  that  can  operate  upon  the  passions 
more  effectually  than  such  a  taste.  The  mind  that  is 
under  its  plastic  influence  will  naturally  be  led  to  dwell  on 
objects  that  excite  the  better  emotions,  the  soft  and  tender, 
or  the  grand  and  sublime  ;  is  withdrawn  from  vexatious 
care,  and  led  to  retirement  and  reflection  ;  and  the  result 
of  all  this  is  tranquillity.  And  the  mind  thus  occupied 
will  not  so  readily  seek  enjoyments  that  are  forbidden. 


306         THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

In  all  parts  of  the  creation  there  are  beauties  or  subli- 
mities by  which  a  good  taste  is  gratified.  Above  are  the 
hosts  of  heaven,  the  sun  going  forth  in  his  strength,  the 
moon  walking  in  brightness,  and  the  uncounted  stars 
decorating  the  whole  expanse.  As  we  descend  to  earth, 
we  find  it  clothed  in  beauties  too  permanent  to  suffer  any 
power  but  that  which  spake  them  into  being  to  erase 
them.  Hence  to  a  cultivated  taste  there  are  every  where 
sources  of  enjoyment,  calculated  to  supplant  the  rougher 
affections,  and  generate  and  mature  those  that  are  kind 
and  lovely  :  and  the  mind  that  is  innocently  happy  is  not 
so  easily  disturbed  by  temptations. 

What,  evil  passion  can  rage  uncontrolled  at  a  moment 
when  the  mind  is  happy  in  enjoyments  which  God  has 
not  forbidden  :  happy  in  the  works  of  his  own  hands. 
The  mind  thus  occupied  will  be  urged  to  the  reflection  of 
the  poet, 

"  These  are  thy  glorious  works,  Parent  of  good, 

Almighty,  thine  this  universal  frame, 

Thus  wondrous  fuir  ;   thyself  how  wondrous  then  !  " 

And  what  power  has  any  forbidden  object  to  attract  or 
control  a  mind  so  employed?  Envy,  for  instance,  what 
place  can  it  have  ?  A  good  taste  enjoys  what  is  another's. 
It  cares  not  whose  is  the  landscape,  or  the  palace,  or  the 
tastefully  cultivated  garden.  It  waits  not  to  ask  what 
interest  accrues  to  self  from  the  fertility,  the  order,  the 
convenience,  the  harmony,  or  variety  which  it  sees  and 
admires.  It  covets  not  to  call  the  stars  its  own,  nor  the 
brook  that  winds  down  the  valley,  nor  the  fruits  and  foli- 
age that  cover  the  hills.  The  stranger  no  less  than 
the  propietor,  may  inhale  the  fragance,  and  hear  the 
music,  and  feel  the  harmony  that  breathes  about  him, 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  307 

The  man  of  taste  realizes  to  some  extent  the  rich  experi- 
ence of  the  child  of  God  ; 

"  He  looks  abroad  into  the  varied  field 
Of  nature,  and,  though  poor  perhaps  compared 
With  those  whose  mansions  glitter  in  his  sight, 
Calls  the  delightful  scenery  all  his  own. 
His  are  the  mountains,  and  the  valleys  his, 
And  the  resplendent  rivers." 

****** 
Yes,  ye  may  fill  your  garners,  ye  that  reap 
The  loaded  soil,  and  ye  may  waste  much  good, 
In  senseless  riot." 

But  there  are  men  that  have  "  a  richer  use  of  yours  than 
you."  The  man  of  cultivated  taste  owns  all  he  sees. 
The  cottage  on  the  hill,  and  the  flocks  that  feed  about  it, 
and  the  woodbine  that  creeps  it  over,  and  the  house-birds 
that  build  their  nests  there,  are  all  the  instruments  of  his 
gratification.  Nature,  with  all  its  original  scenery,  and 
art  with  all  its  varied  improvements,  are  so  much  the  pro- 
perty and  inheritance  of  a  good  taste,  that  envy  can  hard- 
ly find  entrance. 

Covetousness  a  kindred  passion  will  be  restrained  by 
the  same  means.  A  good  taste  can  leave  others  in  pos- 
session of  what  is  theirs,  satisfied  with  the  power  of  en- 
joying what  is  not  as  well  as  what  is  its  own.  It  is  like 
the  lark,  which  can  soar  amid  the  heavens,  and  may  light 
and  drink  at  auy  brook,  and  gather  its  food  on  any  field, 
and  cares  not  to  call  the  territory  its  own. 

I  even  venture  to  say,  that  the  angry  passions  are 
restrained  by  the  same  means.  These  are  more  likely  to 
have  their  abode  in  minds  that  have  never  travelled  from 
home,  nor  been  expanded  by  cultivation ;  and  are  produ- 
ced by  a  contractedness  and  a  jealousy  as  mean  as  mis- 
chievous; deformities  which  a  good  taste,  as  well  as  a  right 
temper,    reprobates  as  coarse,  unsightly  and  repulsive. 


308         THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

The  harsh  language,  and  the  coarse  rebuke,  and  the  dis- 
torted countenance,  and  the  whole  apparatus  of  malevo- 
lence are,  to  a  good  taste,  grating  beyond  endurance. 

I  have  not  meant  to  say,  nor  have  I  said,  that  an  im- 
proved taste  will  wholly  subdue  these  passions ;  but  that 
it  may  be  the  ally  of  piety.  We  have  always  seen  the 
rougher  passions,  and  an  uncultivated  taste  in  the  same 
household,  and  associated  by  the  same  fireside.  Can  you 
not  know  something  of  the  family  by  the  avenue  to  their 
habitation?  When  you  see  it  all  deformity  without;  un- 
sightliness,  and  disproportion,  and  inconvenience  ;  can 
you  not  trace,  many  times,  a  similar  roughness  of  moral 
aspect,  in  its  uncultivated  tenants?  While  the  mind  acts 
upon  every  thing  about  it,  there  is,  from  every  thing  about 
it,  a  reaction  upon  the  mind.  I  know  there  are  cases 
when  we  discover  what  is  kind  in  the  midst  of  unsight- 
liness  and  deformity.  We  have  sometimes  found  true 
religion  where  there  is  little  else.  It  is  not  denied  that 
the  grace  of  God  may  achieve,  what  a  cultivated  taste 
could  not,  and  still  the  latter  may  be  very  far  from  power- 
less. Go  to  the  tasteful  but  lowly  dwelling,  which  is  ap- 
proached by  a  neatly  adorned  avenue,  set  with  many  a 
flower,  and  stripped  of  all  that  is  coarse  and  uncouth,  and 
there  will  be  many  chances  that  its  door  will  be  hospita- 
bly thrown  open,  and  the  stranger  welcomed,  and  his  in- 
quiries civilly  and  kindly  answered.  The  very  child  that 
meets  you  and  welcomes  you,  will  exhibit  a  mind  mel- 
lowed down  by  the  transforming  influence  of  the  scenery 
around  him. 

I  know  that  the  passions  may  be  tame,  through  defi- 
ciency of  intellect,  or  may  be  on  the  other  hand  too  refrac- 
tory for  a  good  taste  to  restrain  ;  and  when  the  latter  has 
operated,  even  powerfully,  it  may  not  have  produced  the 
whole  effect  that  piety  would. 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  309 

"  None  but  a  power  divinely  strong 
Can  turn  the  current  of  the  soul." 

We  have  seen  men  of  polished  manners,  and  improved 
tastes  under  a  paroxism  of  passion,  degraded  into  all  that 
is  coarse  and  forbidding  in  the  savage.     Hence  the  bar- 
barous habit  of  duelling,  even  among  our  most  accom- 
plished men,  and  hence  the  coarse  and  uncourteous  style 
with  which  eloquent  lips,  and  the  pen  well  disciplined, 
can  sometimes  attack  a  perhaps  perfectly  innocent  rival. 
How  ashamed  have  we  sometimes  been,  to  see,  issuing 
from  the  halls  of  legislation,  a  ribaldry  that  would  raise 
a  blush  in  Newgate.     These  were  instances  when  a  cul- 
tivated taste  had  not  power  enough  to  imprison  the  ma- 
lignant passions,  and  showed  its  infinite  inferiority  to  that 
grace  of  God,  which  can  bind  the  strong  man,  and  even 
cast  out  devils.     So  the  ferocious  animal  that  is  charmed 
by  music,  retains  still  his  claws  and  his  fangs,  does  but 
temporarily  forget  his  habits  of  prey,  and  is  mild  only 
tili  the  harmony  that  held  him  has  ceased.     The  power 
which  cannot  convert  the  lion  into  a  lamb,  may  lay  his 
fury ;  what  cannot  render  the  vulture  a  dove,  may  turn 
away  his  eye  from  the  prey.     A  cultivated  taste  may,  in 
the  hour  of  assault,  open  the  mind  to  conviction,  and  lay 
the  tumult  of  passion,  till  reason  and  conscience  can  do 
their  office,  and  thus  the  man  may  be  saved  through  its 
influence  from  a  headlong  plunge  into  misery  and  ruin. 
We  ascribe  to  a  good  taste  a  similar  influence  over  the 
deformities  of  surfeiting,  inebriation,  and  lust.      In  the 
hall  of  gluttony,  in  the  haunts  of  intemperance,  and  in 
the  dark  retreats  of  pollution,  it  sees  what  offends  it  as 
certainly  as  piety  is  offended.     That  the  appetites  should 
govern  reason  is  a  disgusting  perversion  of  all  order  and 
decorum.     That  the  fancy,  the  imagination,  the  memo- 
ry, and  the  whole  apparatus  of  intellect,  with  the  organs 

27 


310 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 


of  sense,  and  the  whole  family  of  kind  and  useful  in- 
stincts, should  be  subjected  to  the  dominion  of  lust,  is  as 
unseemly  and  incongruous,  as  it  is  impious.  To  see  the 
angel  mind  suspend  its  nobler  occupations,  and  descend 
from  the  high  elevation  of  reflection  and  reason,  to  be- 
come conversant  with  the  premises,  and  the  conclusions, 
and  the  outlandish  dialect  of  the  gaming  table  or  the 
vulgarities  of  the  midnight  carouse,  is  to  an  improved 
taste  pitiable,  and  disgusting.  I  would  have  every  man 
SiChristian,  that  I  mightbe  sure  that  he  will  not  descend 
so  low,  but,  if  this  may  not  be,  I  would  have  him  a  man 
of  taste  and  refinement,  that  he  may  not  so  debase  him- 
self. When  we  have  seen  the  man,  who  might  have 
been  a  philosopher,  a  poet,  a  siatesman  or  a  philanthro- 
pist ;  who  might  have  vied  with  Locke  and  Boyle  and 
Newton  and  Burke  ;  might  have  been  classed  with  How- 
ard and  Sharp  and  Clarkson  and  Wilberforce ;  might 
have  risen  in  holiness  of  design  and  energy  of  purpose, 
to  an  enrolment  with  Brainard  and  Svvarts  and  Vander- 
kemp  and  Martin  and  Mills ;  might  have  made  them- 
selves greatly  useful  and  very  dear  to  their  generations  as 
did  Edwards  and  Dwight  and  Worcester  and  Moore  ; — 
to  see  one  who  might  have  thus  exalted  his  nature,  and 
given  the  burliest  value  to  his  existence,  reeling  through 
the  streets,  and  pouring  forth  pollution  from  his  impious 
lips,  as  he  returns  from  the  rendezvous,  to  distract  the  or- 
der, and  break  the  peace,  and  extinguish  the  last  linger- 
ing hope  of  his  family  ;  Oh!  this  is  a  sight,  with  which, 
religion  aside,  and  even  humanity  aside,  a  good  taste  is 
disgusted  to  the  last  degree. 

And  when  concupiscence,  in  its  unhallowed  vagrancy, 
has  murdered  the  peace  of  some  other  family,  and  begins 
to  react  upon  home,  withering  all  the  prospects  that  bud- 
ded and  blossomed  there ;  and  the  wife  becomes  ashamed 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS. 


311 


of  her  husband,  and  the  children  of  their  father,  and  the 
happy  circle  is  at  length  broken  up,  and  cast  out  the  prey 
of  a  selfish  and  unfeeling  world,  then  is  a  good  taste  no 
less  than  piety  itself  outraged.  As  if  the  clown  should 
be  permitted,  with  coarse  untutored  pencil,  to  besmear 
and  utterly  ruin  one  of  the  finest  paintings  of  Raphael,  or 
chisel  into  uncouthness,  and  distortion  one  of  the  noblest 
statues  of  Angelo ;  for  no  painting  or  statue,  no  achieve- 
ment of  art  or  genius,  has  ever  more  highly  gratified  a 
refined  taste,  than  the  image  of  a  harmonious  family, 
moving  on  in  the  sphere  of  domestic  duty  and  enjoyment, 
while 

"Each  fulfils  his  part, 

With  sympathizing  heart, 

In  all  the  cares  of  life  and  love." 

Let  some  cultivated  mind  compare  to  the  life  this  draw- 
ing, let  some  statuary  lay  in  bold  relief  before  the  eye  all 
the  smiling  features  of  such  a  scene,  and  then  let  it  be 
all  defaced  by  the  debauched  husband  and  father,  and 
tell  me  if  a  good  taste  would  be  more  disgusted,  should 
a  swine  from  the  mire  enter  a  palace,  and  tear  and  be- 
smear and  destroy  every  object  it  could  reach.  Thus  a 
good  taste  is  at  war  with  the  unhallowed  passions,  and 
becomes  a  powerful  ally  of  virtue. 

Let  me  say  again,  that  a  cultivated  taste  is  the  friend 
of  virtue,  as  it  operates  to  remove  the  monuments  of  our 
disgrace,  and  objects  of  our  embarrassment  and  vexation, 
that  have  marred  the  beauty  of  the  exterior  creation. 
Give  it  the  means,  and  it  obliterates  every  physical  dis- 
order, and  brings  back  the  world  to  its  primitive  beauty 
and  loveliness,  and  causes  to  glow  a  boundless  Eden  in 
the  valley  of  death.  It  would  terrace  every  hill  to  its 
summit,  or  cast  it  into  the  deep  ravine  ;  would  wall  and 
restrain  the  wayward  current ;  would  drain  the  morass  } 


312  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

would  shape  to  proportion  the  deformities  of  the  protrud- 
ing rock  ;  would  spread  fertility  over  the  heath,  and  paint 
every  cottage,  and  eradicate  forever  the  noxious  shrub  and 
plant  and  tree.  Thus  would  there  be  destroyed  the  haunt 
of  the  serpent,  the  lair  of  the  wolf,  the  retreat  of  the  rob- 
ber, the  pestiferous  exhalations  that  generate  disease  and 
death,  and  the  world  would  become  beautiful  again  as 
when  its  Almighty  Creator  pronounced  it  all  very  good. 
And  then  who  can  doubt  but  its  tenants  would  become 
more  happy  and  more  virtuous.  Having  fewer  fears  and 
fewer  vexations,  they  would  indulge  less  frequently  the 
malignant  passions.  They  might  sit  then  under  their 
vine  and  their  figtree,  and  there  would  be  none  to  make 
them  afraid. 

Let  me  say  again,  that  a  cultivated  taste  tends  to  bring 
men  under  the  influence  of  sacred  truth,  and  thus  holds 
them  within  the  reach  of  resistless  reformation  and  vir- 
tue. Reason  and  judgment  confirm  the  decisions  of  a 
good  taste,  and  are  employed  though  imperceptibly  in 
all  its  operations ;  hence  such  a  taste  is  friendly  to  correct 
habits  of  thought ;  and  the  man  accustomed  to  think  cor- 
rectly on  one  subject,  is,  to  say  the  least,  the  better  pre- 
pared to  investigate  another.  Now  there'  is  no  other 
system  in  which  such  a  taste  can  find  the  harmony,  and 
the  order,  and  the  consistency,  and  the  grandeur,  which 
prevail  in  the  system  of  divine  truth.  There  are  posi- 
tions that  no  genius  can  controvert,  arguments  that  no 
discernment  can  impeach,  illustrations  that  strike  with 
the  vividness  of  lightning,  and  conclusions  that  bear  upon 
an  ingenuous  mind  with  the  weight  of  a  world.  Hence 
we  should  decide,  a  priori,  that  a  good  taste  could  not 
overlook  the  book  of  God.  And  what  is  there  in  the  whole 
apparatus  of  a  practical  religion  to  which  such  a  taste 
is  not  congenial.     The  Sabbath  of  the  Lord,  that  stills 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  313 

the  tumult  of  labour,  calls  man  from  his  drudgery,  clothes 
him  in  neatness,  and  wakes  the  peal  of  the  church  going 
bell,  and  congregates  the  multitude,  and  seats  them  in 
the  sanctuary,  and  breaks  down  all  adventitious  distinc- 
tions, and  puts  a  thousand  minds  upon  the  track  of  the 
same  august  truth  ;  and  spreads  a  stillness  and  a  com- 
posure and  a  thoughtfulness  over  the  whole  region,  how 
beautiful  !  how  sublime  !  If  we  look  at  fads,  do  they 
not  testify,  that  a  cultivated  taste  sustains  a  close  relation- 
ship to  all  this  ?  Are  the  families  that  are  represented  in 
the  solemn  assembly,  the  mean,  and  the  uncultivated  1 
And  do  we  find,  lounging  away  the  hours  of  holy  rest, 
the  neatly  clad,  and  best  improved  portions  of  the  com- 
munity ?  Or  do  we  find  this  better  part  of  society  in  the 
sanctuary,  joining  in  its  prayers,  and  aiding  in  its  praise, 
and  listening  to  the  mysteries  of  heavenly  truth,  and 
bringing  to  a  higher  elevation  that  taste,  which  aided  in 
assembling  them  ?  Go  to  those  districts  of  Christendom, 
where  no  gospel  is  proclaimed,  and  no  multitudes  assem- 
ble in  the  sanctuary,  and  no  general  survey  of  their  harm 
lets  will  remind  you  that  it  is  the  Lord's  day  ;  and  sure  as 
life,  religion  is  wanting  there,  and  about  as  sure  is  the 
total  absence  of  a  cultivated  taste.  You  will  see  patrol* 
ing  the  streets,  their  untutored  and  beggarly  offspring, 
and  in  most  of  their  habitations  you  will  discover  the 
sure  indication  of  minds  as  uncultivated,  as  their  princi- 
ples and  conduct  are  immoral.  A  good  taste  would  re- 
move many  of  the  obstacles  to  keeping  a  Sabbath,  and 
building  a  sanctuary,  and  supporting  a  ministry,  and 
sustaining  a  Sabbath  school,  and  erecting  a  library  fojr 
the  improvement  of  the  public  mind. 

Do  any  ^k,  How  is  all  this  consistent  with  thai 
declaration,  that,  "  Not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh, 
Bot  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called  :  but  Go$ 

,27* 


314  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  this  world  to  confound 
the  wise ;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  this 
world  to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty ;  and 
base  things  of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised, 
hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring 
to  nought  things  that  are  :  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in 
his  presence  ?  "  Now  let  me  say,  that  men  may  be  wise, 
and  mighty,  and  noble,  in  the  sense  of  this  passage,  and 
still  be  as  destitute  of  a  good  taste  as  their  postillion  or 
their  footman.  Mere  wealth  may  procure  the  wisdom 
and  the  nobility  and  the  might  here  spoken  of,  but  it 
does  not  follow  that  there  will  be  the  delicate  imagination, 
and  the  keen  sensibility,  and  the  soundness  of  judgment, 
and  the  wise  course  of  reading  and  of  thinking,  which 
indicate  a  cultivated  taste.  We  have  seen  a  profusion 
of  splendour  and  of  equipage,  and  a  disgusting  routine 
of  ceremony,  where  there  was  the  total  absence  of  the 
lovely  attribute  we  eulogize.  One  is  virtue's  foe,  the 
other  its  ally.  The  whole  of  that  display  which  wealth 
can  purchase  and  in  which  pride  and  vanity  and  lust 
vegetate,  is  the  opposite  of  virtue  ;  but  not  so  that  sense 
of  the  mind  which  gives  us  an  eye  to  see  and  a  power  to 
enjoy  the  ten  thousand  beauties  that  God  has  spread  over 
the  works  of  his  hands.  It  is  not  that  we  can  see  love- 
liness in  the  sceneries  of  nature  or  the  productions  of 
art,  that  can  offend  the  Lord,  but  that  we  can  see  it  in 
vice.  It  is  not  that  we  have  the  wisdom  that  waked 
in  Eden,  that  God  will  disapprove  ;  but  that  we  are  wise 
in  our  own  conceits,  wise  to  do  evil.  It  is  not  the  nobili- 
ty that  is  generated  by  thought  and  reflection  and  reason- 
ing, and  which  is  found  in  angels,  that  operates  to  shut 
heaven's  door  against  us  ;  but  the  nobility  which  origin- 
ates in  misapplied  wealth  and  flattery  and  pride. 

But  it  is  asked  whether  a  cultivated  taste  has  not  some- 


tTPON   THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  315 

times  rendered  persons  unlr  ppy,  as  they  must  often  be 
constrained,  in  a  world  like  this,  to  be  conversant  with 
what  is  coarse  and  disgusting  ?  I  will  not  deny  that 
there  is  some  truth  in  this.  We  have  seen  a  delicate 
woman  bred  to  the  most  refined  enjoyments,  and  im- 
proved in  her  taste  till  she  deserved  all  that  the  world 
could  have  done  to  make  her  happy,  yoked  unequally 
to  a  savage  ;  in  which  case, 

"  Native  rage  and  native  fear  rose  and  fotbid  delight," 

and  we  were  ready  to  wish  that,  to  make  her  condition 
less  unpleasant  her  mind  had  remained  rude.  And  we 
have  seen  another  picture,  a  false  taste  connected  with 
no  native  endowments,  or  solid  improvements  of  intellect ; 
and  it  resulted,  as  we  should  expect,  in  pride  and  passion, 
and  fed  its  fantasy  on  ideal  beauties,  not  seen  in  nature 
nor  known  in  art  ;  read  of  perhaps  in  the  pages  of  a 
novel,  or  seen  in  the  reveries  of  an  hysteric  imagination  ; 
and  the  result  was  misery  as  it  should  be.  It  was  a 
sickly  feverish  taste,  adapted  only  to  an  ideal  world,  and 
not  qualified  to  be  conversant  with  sober  realities.  But 
it  was  a  vexation  that  such  lunacy  should  be  called  taste. 

A  good  taste  must  be  connected  with  intellect  and 
must  grow  with  the  growth  of  mind.  It  is  then  sane 
and  sensible.  If  we  do  fear  that  in  some  few  instances 
a  cultivated  taste  has  diminished  happiness,  in  most 
cases  where  this  has  seemed  the  fact  there  was  the  total 
absence  of  all  that  deserved  the  name. 

It  is  said  that  taste  is  a  costly  attribute,  and  produces 
poverty,  and  thus  immorality  and  misery  ?  I  promptly 
assert  that  it  costs  far  less  than  the  appetites  it  restrains. 
Would  the  sot  and  the  epicure  expend  in  the  cultivation 
of  a  good  taste  the  fortunes  lavished  upon  their  appetites, 
the  latter  expense  would  be  saved  and  the  amount  would 


310  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

surn  und  them  with  ten  thousand  beauties,  convenien- 
ces, and  comforts.  It  will  generally  happen,  in  this 
country  at  least,  that  if  men  will  forego  the  pampering 
of  their  lusts  they  will  not  lack  the  means  of  gratifying  a 
good  taste,  li  makes  not  large  demands  where  there 
are  small  resources.  The  lowly  cottage  with  its  little 
patch  of  shrubbery,  fruits,  and  flowers,  may  be  quite  as 
tasteful  as  the  palace  with  its  proud  and'  lofty  architec- 
ture. 

If  it  be  thought  that  taste  consumes  time,  it  may  be 
answered  that  it  saves  more  than  it  consumes.  It  makes 
all  its  drafts  upon  idleness  and  vice.  Its  bed  of  flowers  it 
cultivates,  and  has  time  left,  while  sloth  claims  another 
nap,  and  wh  i  envy  slanders  a  neighbour,  and  while  ap- 
petite is  gorging  its  pernicious  viands  an  fatal  draughts, 
and  while  covetousness  is  counting  up  its  gains,  and 
while  anger  is  rankling  and  wrath  is  burning  and  re- 
venge is  plotting  in  the  bosom  of  fools.  I  even  assert  that 
its  tendency  is  to  enrich.  A  good  taste  will  seek  the 
means  of  its  own  gratification.  It  will  aim  first  to  ac- 
quire the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life,  and  this 
will  lead  to  enterprise  that  will  nerve  the  man  for  duty. 
Besides  the  exertions  made  for  these  purposes,  he  will 
put  forth  another  effort  that  he  may  gratify  his  taste, 
and,  other  things  equal;  will  be  the  more  industrious 
and  thriving  man.  He  holds  to  the  men  about  him 
the  high  station  of  a  benefactor,  and  would  make  any 
effort  within  his  power  and  endure  any  privation  rather 
than  lean  for  subsistence  upon  their  charity.  Could 
you  by  some  magical  process  infuse  a  good  taste  in- 
to that  multitude  of  paupers  which  brood  like  the  incu- 
bus upon  the  bosom  of  community,  you  would  extermin 
ate  pauperism.  When  did  you  ever  know  a  man  of 
taste  to  become  a  pauper  ?     At  least  when,   except  in 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS. 


317 


some  rare  instances  of  prolonged  disease,  saw  you  a  pau- 
per who  was  not  wholly  wanting  in  this  inestimable  en- 
dowment ?  When  I  see  the  new  married  pair  with  no 
object  about  them  tasteful,  by  a  kind  of  instinct  I  mark 
them  out  for  ultimate  poverty. 

Let  it  not  be  thought  that  a  good  taste  tends  to  form 
a  fictitious  and  deceitful  character.  It  is  confessed  that 
rustic  coarseness,  associated  with  honesty,  is  preferable 
to  a  Chesterfieldian  system,  founded  less  on  the  princi- 
ples of  a  good  taste  than  in  falsehood  and  infidelity.  A 
good  taste  scorns  the  fellowship  of  principles  so  selfish 
and  contracted  and  cowardly.  While  it  favours  a  polish 
as  fair  and  rich  as  Chesterfield's,  it  associates  with  it 
the  integrity  of  a  Hale,  the  philanthropy  of  a  Howard, 
and  the  Christian  patriotism  of  a  Wilberlorce. 

We  have  known  the  error  to  creep  into  colleges,  that 
taste  and  genius  are  not  likely  to  be  united  ;  and  under 
this  impression  many  silly  youths  have  feigned  a  careless- 
ness in  their  personal  appearance,  and  have  accustomed 
themselves  to  keep  their  study  and  their  dormitory  in  a 
state  of  disorder  and  filth,  as  the  best  evidence  they  could 
give  of  mental  vigour.  And  not  unfrequently  has  this 
error  cast  reproach  upon  our  seats  of  science,  while 
parents  have  been  grieved  to  see  their  sons  return  from 
the  seminary,  having  unlearned  many  a  lesson  of  decen- 
cy that  had  been  for  }Tears  very  industriously  taught 
them.  The  age  had  produced  somewhere  an  eccentric 
genius  who  was  totally  deficient  in  common  sense  and 
common  decency,  and  the  opinion  prevailed,  that  to 
have  his  powers  one  must  copy  his  insufferable  negli- 
gence. But  show  me  the  youth  who  has  finished  his  edu- 
cation a  very  clown,  and  I  say  possibly  he  may  be  a 
genius,  and  yet  a  beggar  and  a  bear  too  ;  but  rest  assured 
his  clownishness  is  a  prognostic  only  for  the  bear  and 


318         THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

the  beggar,  not  of  the  accomplished  and  successful  scho- 
lar ;  and  we  always  fear  there  will  not  be  enough  of  the 
better  part  to  cover  the  worse.  I  know  we  sometimes 
see  the  disgusting  contrast  of  all  this,  the  spruce  and 
booted  and  fantastical  coxcomb  ;  lavishing,  conscience 
and  economy  not  consulted,  the  earnings  of  another  upon 
his  vanity  ;  the  gallant,  when  he  should  be  the  student, 
the  curse  of  colleges,  the  stigma  of  his  father's  house, 
and  ultimately  the  scorn  alike  of  both  sexes  ; — but  I 
turn  from  this  disgusting  image. 

As  early  as  possible  then  I  would  have  the  tas'.e  im- 
proved, and  would  urge  its  cultivation  among  the  duties 
of  piety.  I  would  have  every  man  lay  the  world  under 
obligation  to  him,  because  he  makes  the  little  world  about 
him  more  fertile  and  more  beautiful.  I  would  have  every 
young  man  go  away  from  the  seat  of  science  feeling 
strongly,  that  every  deformity  of  the  natural  world  and 
the  moral,  is  to  be  cured  as  far  as  possible  by  his  influ- 
ence ;  that  he  is  to  touch  nothing,  mind  or  matter,  but  it 
must  come  out  of  his  hands  more  lovely  in  the  sight  of 
God  or  man.  He  must  contribute  to  make  the  desert 
bloom  around  him  and  the  wilderness  to  become  an  Eden. 
Let  him  feel  that  as  wide  as  the  ruins  of  the  apostacy  is 
the  field  of  his  labour,  the  curse  that  fell  on  man,  and 
the  mischief  that  through  him  fell  on  the  territory  that 
lie  occupies. 

In  every  department  of  life  a  good  taste  gives  high 
promise  of  influence  and  usefulness.  Does  the  youth 
intend  to  excel  as  a  classical  writer  ?  a  good  taste  will 
furnish  him  with  language  more  copious,  and  figures 
more  striking  and  appropriate,  and  a  field  of  illustration 
more  wide  and  diversified.  It  will  give  him  a  power  to 
persuade  and  control  that  he  would  not  have  otherwise 
attained.      In  Addison,  what  a  powerful  instrument  of 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  319 

good  was  his  taste.  It  chastened  his  wit  and  enabled 
him  to  shame  into  disuse  many  a  mistaken  maxim  of  his 
times,  and  rendered  him  the  scourge  and  the  dread  of 
proud  and  polished  profligacy.  His  finished  style  was 
the  grand  means  of  carrying  his  strictures  upon  manners 
and  morals  into  the  parlour  and  the  palace,  where  they 
operated  in  purifying  the  character  of  the  nation  and  the 
world.  Not  that  a  good  taste  should  convert  every  writer 
into  an  Addison  :  this  would  be  neither  possible  nor  de- 
sirable. While  his  writings  may  be  read  with  profit  by 
every  man,  they  may  not  be  safely  imitated  by  any. 
Let  every  man's  style  be  his  own.  Let  him  go  forth  in 
his  own  livery,  and  use  his  own  weapons  in  whatever 
cause  he  would  sustain.  Be  the  bent  of  his  genius  what 
it  may,  a  good  taste  will  be  one  of  its  most  powerful  aids. 
Every  excrescence  of  his  genius  it  will  lop  off.  His  wit 
it  will  chasten,  his  rashness  it  will  restrain,  his  boldness 
and  originality  it  will  regulate,  his  patriotism  it  will  pu- 
rify. It  will  adapt  his  genius  to  more  nations  and  ages 
than  one.  Hence  it  is  that  works  of  genuine  taste  never 
become  obsolete.  Homer  and  Virgil  and  Milton  and 
Cowper  will  continue  to  be  read  through  all  generations. 
Does  the  youth  aspire  to  emineut  usefulness  as  a 
preacher  of  righteousness  ?  he  will  need  the  guidance  of 
a  good  taste  ;  as  there  are  polished  sinners  that  must  be 
won  and  accomplished  believers  that  must  be  guided 
home  to  heaven.  In  each  part  of  his  work  he  will  have 
need  of  language  soft  and  chaste  as  angels  use.  A 
good  taste  need  not  enervate  or  secularize  his  style,  but 
will,  if  there  be  genius,  invigorate  it.  It  will  qualify 
him  to  handle  profitably  those  subjects  which  are  in 
themselves  disgusting,  and  from  which  delicacy  might 
otherwise  shrink.  He  may  descend,  accompanied  by  a 
good  taste  as  his  guardian  angel,  into  the  lowest  cells  of 


320         THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

iniquity,  and  make  war  with  it  in  all  its  haunts  of  filth- 
iness,  without  offending  delicacy.  It  will  give  him  that 
address  which  will  bring  him  into  successful  conflict  with 
a  whole  family  of  vices,  that  would  otherwise  lie  without 
his  reach,  operate  beyond  his  control,  and  parry  every 
thrust  he  made.  It  will  teach  him  how  to  characterize 
foul  iniquity,  and  to  stamp  its  shame  by  an  indignation 
so  full  of  soul,  and  by  illustrations  so  elevated,  as  to  hold 
himself  a  whole  atmosphere  above  the  meanness  and 
the  turpitude  he  depicts.  Seated  on  a  cloud,  he  may, 
unharmed,  dart  his  lightnings  down  into  the  dreariest 
and  filthiest  abodes  of  moral  putrifaction.  As  if  an  an- 
gel, with  sword  pointed  and  burnished  in  heaven,  and 
himself  shrouded  in  celestical  glory,  should  be  sent  to 
still  the  tumults  and  lay  the  blasphemies  of  the  infernal 
prison.  The  better  the  taste  employed,  and  the  more 
elevated  the  language  in  which  admonition  and  rebuke 
is  administered,  the  deeper  may  he  descend  till  he  has 
seized  iniquity  in  its  profoundest  caverns,  and  laid  it 
naked,  and  lashed  it  into  agony  and  into  shame. 

Would  the  youth  qualify  himself  to  be  a  teacher  7  he 
will  have  great  need  of  a  cultivated  taste,  and  that  what- 
ever may  be  the  age  at  which  he  is  to  take  the  rising 
generation  under  his  instruction.  It  is  a  grief  and  a 
loss  too  when  our  common  schools  are  committed  to  the 
care  of  men  void  of  taste  ;  for  the  hackneyed  proverb  is 
still  most  true, 

"  Just  as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree's  inclined." 

The  child  of  five  years  old  may,  through  this  deficiency 
of  his  teacher,  receive  a  bad  impression  of  character  that 
will  last  till  he  dies.  It  is  yet  more  lamentable  when  the 
teacher  of  our  youth  is  destitute  of  this  endowment,  and 
cannot  point  out  to  his  pupils  the  beauties  that  lie  along 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  321 

the  track  of  improvement.  This  very  failure  in  the 
teacher  has  probably  damped  the  ardour  of  many  a 
young  man,  and  turned  back  to  manual  labour  one  who 
might  have  reached  eminence  in  literature.  It  is  a  loss 
not  easily  estimated  when  the  preceptors  in  our  academies 
and  tutors  in  our  colleges  cannot  point  out  to  their  class- 
es the  flowers  that  bloom  and  the  sublimities  that  open 
to  view  as  they  climb  the  hill  of  science.  And  through 
all  the  ascending  grades  of  literary  instruction,  a  good 
taste  becomes  increasingly  important.  There  may  be 
much  in  the  character  of  our  public  teachers  to  admire  ; 
there  may  be  those  talents  and  that  good  sense  that  are 
indispensable,  and  that  amiableness  of  temper  which  in 
their  station  is  above  all  price,  and  that  piety  which  we 
most  of  all  revere,  and  still  if  a  good  taste  be  wanting  the 
evil  will  be  long  and  distinctly  seen  in  the  deportment  of 
educated  men,  and  be  from  them  spread  out  and  handed 
down  till  it  affect  most  unhappily  the  character  of  our 
whole  republic  through  many  generations.  On  them  too 
it  must  depend  to  give  American  genius  its  polish  and 
elevation  and  influence  in  the  literary  world,  and  to  de- 
cide whether  in  letters,  as  in  correct  views  of  true  liberty 
and  enlightened  civil  government,  we  are  to  stand  ad- 
mired and  honoured  as  the  first  nation  on  the  face  of  the 
earth . 

Would  the  youth  gain  distinguished  eminence  at  the 
bar  ?  his  good  taste  must  enable  him  to  chastise  fraud 
and  mischief  without  vulgarity.  The  ribaldry  that  has 
sometimes  disgraced  the  legal  profession,  must,  as  fociely 
becomes  more  enlightened,  fall  into  the  contempt  it  merits, 
and  its  place  be  filled  with  solid  and  dignified  argument 
and  eloquence.  The  advocate  should  make  himself  rer 
spected  by  the  judge  and  the  jury,  on  whose  enlightened 
decision  rests  the  issue  of  his  cause.     And  he  will  so  often. 


322  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE 

see  fraud  and  crime  in  a  smooth  and  varnished  aspect, 
concealed  behind  all  that  art  can  do  to  polish  and  baptise 
it  into  honesty,  and  all  that  wealth  and  influence  can  do 
to  cover  its  deformities,  and  all  that  pride  and  impudence 
can  do  to  confound  its  opposer,  that  an  improved  taste 
will  be  requisite  to  follow  it  into  the  parlour  and  the  the- 
atre and  the  billiard  room,  and  hunt  it  down,  and  strip 
it,  and  mark  it,  that  no  drapery  may  longer  conceal  its 
hideous  and  accursed  form.  If  his  weapons  be  coarse 
and  blunt,  he  will  give  polished  vice  the  vantage  ground, 
and  furnish  it  an  unanswerable  argument  why  it  should 
not  be  willing  to  perish  by  his  sword.  In  the  hall  of 
legislation  too,  and  on  the  bench,  and  through  all  the  as- 
cending grades  of  political  elevation,  a  good  taste  is  in- 
creasingly necessary. 

The  physician  too,  to  be  respected  and  useful,  must  be 
a  man  of  taste.  He  is  necessarily  conversant  with  the 
best  families  and  the  most  delicate  diseases,  and  cannot 
be  coarse  without  offence.  One  would  not  choose  to  in- 
vite the  rustic  into  his  sick  chamber  or  submit  himself  to 
his  surgical  operations.  Society  is  abused,  ( and  the 
abuse  should  have  been  long  since  corrected,)  when  the 
clown  is  pronounced  capable  of  practising  the  healing  art 
and  is  sent  out  to  learn  his  first  lessons  of  decency  from 
the  gentle  manners,  the  subdued  accents,  and  restrained 
habits  of  the  sick  and  dying  bed.  Chain  him  to  the 
plough  ;  put  a  spade  into  his  hand,  and  not  a  lancet ; 
keep  him  from  touching  the  sacred  casket  of  the  materia 
rnedica. 

No  matter  into  what  department  of  life  and  action  the 
youth  is  entering  from  the  walls  of  the  seminary,  he 
must  every  where  have  a  good  taste  or  he  will  bring 
literature  into  disrepute. 

My  motive  then,  young  gentlemen,  in  addressing  you 


UPON  THE  MORAL  AFFECTIONS.  323 

on  this  subject,  is  distinctly  seen.  God  has  given  us  a 
world  in  which  there  are  many  beauties,  but  through  the 
apostacy  many  deformities.  These  beauties  I  would 
have  you  qualified  to  see  and  relish,  and  these  deformities 
to  obliterate.  I  would  have  you  employ  all  your  genius 
to  create  other  beauties,  till  every  spot  about  you  shall 
smile,  every  eminence  be  comely,  and  every  valley  ver- 
dant. I  would  there  should  be  in  your  views  an  enlight- 
ened graciousness,  which,  if  not  religion,  is  its  handmaid  ; 
if  not  born  in  heaven,  was  early  in  Eden  ;  if  hot  posses- 
sed of  power  to  subdue  the  heart,  may  mould  some  of  its 
rougher  affections  into  milder  forms  ;  and  though  not  a 
radical  cure  for  the  calamities  of  life,  has  abundant  power 
to  soothe.  You  would  then  be  more  useful  and  happy 
while  you  live,  and  we  should  have  higher  hopes  of 
meeting  you  in  heaven,  and  joining  you  in  exploring  the 
wonders  of  that  pure  and  tasteful  city,  whose  walls  are 
jasper,  whose  gates  are  of  pearl,  and  whose  streets  are 
paved  with  gold. 

Before  I  conclude  I  must  be  permitted  to  devote  a  few 
words  to  friendship.  I  see  many  faces  here  that  have 
often  lighted  up  my  own  with  a  smile.  It  is  affecting  to 
meet  you  again  in  this  world  of  change.  It  is  probably 
the  last  time  I  shall  ever  see  you  all  until  we  meet  in 
that  country  "  from  whose  bourn  no  traveller  returns/' 
I  learn  that  death  has  made  inroads  among  you.  It  is 
a  note  of  admonition  to  us  all  to  be  prepared  to  die. 
The  past  year  has  been  to  us  one  of  peculiar  interest. 
God  has  deigned  to  display  the  power  of  his  grace  under 
my  poor  ministrations,  and  has  given  me  often  the  pleas- 
ure of  sitting  down  by  the  conscience  and  the  heart  that 
his  truth  and  his  Spirit  had  impressed.  And  I  have  re- 
joiced to  hear  that  he  has  been  in  very  deed  with  you, 
begetting  everlasting  consolation  and  good  hope  in  many 


324  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  A  GOOD  TASTE, 

of  your  hearts.  Thus  it  appears  that  he  who  is  rich  in 
mercy  was  with  me  in  the  way  that  I  went,  and  remain- 
ed with  you.  May  he  still  be  with  us  and  keep  us  by 
his  power  and  guide  our  wayward  feet  to  his  heavenly 
rest.  There  may  we  another  day  meet,  and  with  burst- 
ing- hearts  rehearse  the  mercies  that  bore  with  us  and 
brought  us  safely  through,  and  sustained  us  in  our  trials, 
and  managed  our  spiritual  enemies,  and  covered  our  heads 
in  the  day  of  battle,  and  subdued  our  lusts,  and  planted 
our  feet  at  last  on  the  hills  of  promise.  You  will  let  me 
and  my  dear  people  have  an  interest  in  your  prayers. 
And  may  the  Lord  bless  this  people  and  its  ministry, 
and  bless  these  rising  schools  of  science,  and  all  their 
guardians  and  teachers,  and  all  who  come  to  seek  wis- 
dom at  these  gates.  From  age  to  age  let  heaven'  s 
richest  influence  come  down  on  these  hills,  and  flow  out 
in  streams  of  salvation  through  the  world,  and  down 
through  all  generations,  till  all  the  curse  shall  be  repealed, 
and  God  be  once  more  pleased  with  the  world  he  made. 


THE    END. 


BOOKS 

PUBLISHED    AND    FOR    SALE    BY 

JOHN     S.     TAYLOR, 

THEOLOGICAL       AND       SUNDAY       SCHOOL        BOOKSELLER, 

BRICK     CHURCH     CHAPEL, 

CORNER     OF     PARK-ROW     AND     NASSAU-STREET, 
OPPOSITE     THE     CITY    HALL,     NEW- YORK. 


Hints  to  Parents  on  the  Early  Reli- 
gious Education  of  Children.  By  Gardiner 
Spring,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian  Church, 
New- York.  18mo.  with  a  steel  engraving.     Price  37i  cts. 

From  the  New-York  Weekly  Messenger  and  Young  Men's  Advocate. 

Dr.  Spring's  Hints  to  Parents. — One  of  the  prettiest  lit- 
tle -works  of  this  class  that  we  have  ever  met  with,  is  just 
published  ;  it  is  called  "  Hints  to  Parents  on  the  Religious 
Education  of  Children.  By  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D."  The 
author  has  been  long  and  favorably  known  to  the  public  as 
a  chaste,  powerful,  and  popular  writer.  The  subject  of  the 
present  work  is  one  of  great  moment — one  in  which  every 
parent  has  a  real  interest.  And  we  commend  this  little 
volume,  not  only  to  pious  parents,  but  to  all  who  desire  to 
bring  up  their  children  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  them 
an  honor  to  themselves  and  a  blessing  to  their  fellow-men. 


2 

From  the  Commercial  Advertiser. 

Hints  to  Parents,  on  the  Religious  Education  of  Chil- 
dren. By  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D.  This  beautiful  little  vo- 
lume, coming-  out  at  this  time,  will  be  peculiarly  acceptable 
to  the  congregation  of  the  able  and  excellent  author,  and 
will  have  the  effect  of  a  legacy  of  his  opinions  on  a  most 
important  subject,  now  that  for  a  lime  they  are  deprived  of 
his  personal  instructions.  It  is  a  work  that  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  every  parent  throughout  our  country,  who  has  the 
temporal  and  eternal  interest  of  his  offspring  at  heart.  The 
few  and  leading  maxims  of  the  Christian  religion  are  plain- 
ly and  practically  enforced,  and  the  parent's  duties  are  des- 
canted on  in  a  train  of  pure  and  beautiful  eloquence,  which 
a  father's  mind,  elevated  by  religion,  only  could  have  dictat- 
ed. We  believe  that  a  general  knowledge  of  this  little  vo- 
lume would  be  attended  with  consequences  beneficial  to  so- 
ciety, since  a  practice  of  its  recommendations  could  scarcely 
be  refused  to  its  solemn  and  affectionate  spirit  of  entreaty. 

The  Ministry  we  Need.  By  S.  H.  Cox,  D.  D., 
and  others.     37^  cents. 

From  the  Literary  and  Tiieological  Review. 

This  neat  little  volume  comprises  the  inaugural  charge 
and  address  which  were  delivered  on  occasion  of  inducting 
the  Professor  of  Sacred  Rhetoric  and  Pastoral 
Theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Auburn.  The 
friends  of  Dr.  Cox  will  not  be  disappointed  in  his  inaugu- 
ral address.  It  bears  the  impress  of  his  talents  and  piety — 
his  enlarged  views  and  catholic  spirit.  To  analyze  it 
would  convey  no  adequate  idea  of  its  merits.  His  theme 
is  the  ministry  of  reconciliation — "the  chosen  medium  by 
which  God  conciliates  men — the  mighty  moral  enginery 
that  accomplishes  his  brightest  wonders — the  authentic 
diplomacy  of  the  King  of  kings  working  salvation  in  the 
midst  of  the  earth."  The  manner  in  which  he  treats  his 
subject,  in  relation  to  the  importance  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry, and  the  kind  of  ministry  needed  in  this  age  and  na- 
tion, we  need  hardly  remark  will  amply  repay  the  perusal 
of  his  brethren,  if  not  be  interesting  and  instructive  to  the 
church  at  large. 

"  Error  scenting  notoriety"  may  not  altogether  like  the 


odor  of  this  little  book;  and  the  "lynx-eyed  defeciers  of 
heresy  "  will  not  be  forward  to  approve  a  work  in  which 
they  are  handled  with  unsparing  severity-;  but  by  "all  the 
favorers  on  principle  of  a  pious,  sound,  educated,  scriptural, 
and  accomplished  ministry  in  the  church  of  God,  and 
throughout  the  whole  world,  as  the  ministry  we  need, 
to  whom  this  little  volume  is  most  respectfully  inscribed," 
it  will  be  read,  and,  we  trust,  circulated. 

The  Christian's  Pocket  Companion. — 

Selected  from  the  works  of  John  Rogers,  Dr.  Owen, 
David  Brainerd,  President  Edwards,  and  others, 
with  an  Introduction  by  Rev.  John  Blatchford,  of 
Bridgeport,  Conn.     25  cents. 

The  following  is  from  Mr.  Blatchford's  Letter  to  the  Publisher; 

I  am  happy  to  learn,  through  your  letter  of  last  evening, 
your  design  of  publishing  the  little  work  containing  the 
private  rules  by  which  the  lives  of  such  men  as  Edwards, 
and  Brainerd,  and  Rogers,  and  Mason,  were  regulated. 

That  little  volume  (which  is  the  cnly  copy  that  I  have 
ever  met  with)  was,  for  many  of  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
the  pocket-companion  of  my  honored  father,  the  late  Sa- 
muel Blatchford,  D.  D.  of  Lansingburgh.  This  circum- 
stance alone  would  give  it  a  value  in  my  estimation — as 
also  with  the  many  who  were  associated  with  him  as  a 
father  in  the  ministry,  as  well  as  those  who  were  per- 
mitted to  receive  "the  message  of  salvation  from  his  lips." 

But  in  addition  to  this,  who  is  there  that  loves  the  cause 
of  Christ  and  the  souls  of  men  among  the  ministers  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  pur  day,  that  has  not  often,  amid  the  toils 
and  discouragements  and  anxieties  which  so  thickly  beset 
their  path,  turned  away  to  such  men,  and  inquired  the  se- 
cret, if  any  there  was,  by  which  they  accomplished  so 
much  for  the  Church,  and  secured  to  themselves  a  charac- 
ter for  such  eminent  holiness?  This  little  book  answers 
these  questions,  and  introduces  us  to  these  "men  of  God," 
in  the  closet,  in  the  family,  in  the  social  circle,  in  the  la- 
bors of  the  pulpit,  and  in  the  discharge  of  their  multiplied 
parochial  duties;  and  I  am  confident  that  no  one  can  rise 
from  its  perusal  without  being  incited  to  more  prayer  and 
more  diligence  in  their  varied  efforts  to  adorn  the  "  doc- 


tnnes  of  Christ  their  Savior  "  themselves,  and  in  preach- 
ing Christ  and  him  crucified  to  others. 

Wishing  you  all  success  in  your  undertaking,  I  would 
most  fervently  commend  it  to  the  blessing  of  God,  believing 
that  in  giving  it  to  the  public,  you  will  greatly  subserve  the 
best  of  causes,  and  in  a  very  acceptable  manner. 

JOHN  BLATCHFORD. 

From  the  New-York  Observer. 

Christian's  Pocket- Companion. — This  very  small  but 
neat  manual,  just  published,  is  a  compilation  of  some  of 
the  purest  sentiments  and  holiest  aspirations  of  such  men 
as  Owen,  Rogers,  Brainerd,  and  President  Edwards.  We 
venture  to  say  that  no  Christian  can  make  it  the  familiar 
companion  of  his  heart,  as  well  as  "pocket,"  without  be- 
coming evidently  a  holier  and  a  happier  man. 

Practical  Thoughts.  By  the  late  Dr.  Nevins, 
of  Baltimore.     SO  cents. 

Thoughts  on  Popery.   By  Dr.  Nevins.    50  cts. 

From  the  New-York  Observer  of  April  9tb,  1836. 

The  Practical  Thoughts  consists  of  forty-six  articles  on 
prayer,  praise,  professing  Christ,  duties  to  Sabbath  Schools, 
the  monthly  concert,  the  conversion  of  the  world,  viola- 
tions of  the  Sabbath,  liberality,  man's  inconsistency,  the 
pity  of  the  Lord,  Christian  duty,  death,  &e. ;  the  last  of 
which  are  "  Heaven's  Attractions "  and  "  The  Heavenly 
Recognition,"  closing  with  the  words,  "  By  the  time  we 
have  done  what  I  recommend,  we  shall  be  close  upon  the 
celestial  confines — perhaps  within  heaven's  limits."    *  *  * 

There  the  sainted  author  laid  down  his  pen,  leaving  the 
article  unfinished,  and  went,  none  can  doubt,  to  enjoy  the 
blessed  reality  of  the  scenes  he  had  been  so  vividly  de- 
scribing. 

These  articles  combine  great  simplicity,  attractiveness, 
and  vivacity  of  thought  and  style,  with  a  spiritual  unction 
scarcely  to  be  found  in  any  other  writer.  Thousands  of 
minds  were  impressed  with  them  as  they  first  appeared  : 
they  reproved  the  inconsistent  Christian,  roused  the  slum- 
bering, and  poured  a  precious  balm  into  many  an  afflicted 


bosom.  While  writing  them,  the  author  buried  a  beloved 
wife,  and  had  daily  more  and  more  sure  indications  that 
the  hour  of  his  own  departure  was  at  hand ;  and  God  en- 
abled him,  from  the  depths  of  his  own  Christian  experience, 
to  open  rich  fountains  of  blessing  for  others. 

The  Thoughts  on  Popery  are  like,  and  yet  unlike,  the 
other  series.  There  is  the  same  sprightliness  of  the  imagi- 
nation, the  same  clearness,  originality,  and  richness  of 
thought,  with  a  keenness  of  argument,  and  sometimes 
irony,  that  exposes  the  baseness  and  shamelessness  of  the 
dogmas  and  superstitions  of  Popery,  and  that  must  carry 
home  conviction  to  the  understanding  and  heart  of  every 
unprejudiced  reader.  Piece  by  piece  the  delusion,  not  to 
say  imposition,  of  that  misnamed  church  are  exposed,  un- 
der the  heads  of  the  Sufficiency  of  the  Bible,  the  Nine 
Commandments,  Mortal  and  Venial  Sins,  Infallibility,  Idola- 
try, Relics,  the  Seven  Sacraments,  Penance,  the  Mass,  Celi- 
bacy of  the  Clergy,  Purgatory,  Canonizing  Saints,  Lafay- 
ette not  at  Rest,  The  Leopold  Reports,  Supererogation, 
Convents,  &c.  We  know  of  nothing  that  has  yet  been 
issued  which  so  lays  open  the  deformities  of  Popery  to 
common  minds,  or  is  so  admirably  adapted  to  save  our 
country  from  its  wiles,  and  to  guard  the  souls  of  men  from 
its  fatal  snares. 

A  View  of  the  American  Slavery  Ques* 
tion.  By  E.  P.  Barrows,  Pastor  of  the  First  Free  Pres- 
byterian Church.     31|  cents. 

From  the  New-York  American  of  March  26th,  1836. 

A  View  of  the  American  Slavery  Question,  by  E.  P. 
Barrows,  Jun.  Pastor  of  the  First  Free  Presbyterian 
Church,  New- York. — John  S.  Taylor.  In  this  little 
volume  is  embodied  the  substance  of  two  discourses,  preach- 
ed, as  we  learn  from  the  Introduction,  "  by  the  Author, 
in  October,  1835,  with  particular  reference  to  the  condition 
of  his  own  church."  "  Their  result  was  a  spirit  of  har- 
mony and  good  feeling  in  the  church."  Such  will  not, 
we  apprehend,  be  the  result  of  their  publication ;  for  they 
maintain  modestly,  but  firmly  and  conscientiously,  the 
right  and  duty  of  reasoning  and  remonstrating  with  our 


southern  brethren  against  the  enormity  of  slavery,  and  of 
urging,  in  all  lawful  ways,  its  extinction.  The  North — 
partly  from  mercenary  and  partly  from  political  motives, 
and  with  too  many,  perhaps,  from  culpable  indifference — 
seem  anxious  to  stultify  all  their  past  efforts  against  sla- 
very, and  yield  up  even  the  right  of  discussing  its  evils, 
and  exhorting  to  its  abandonment ;  and  hence  Mr.  Bar- 
rows' modest  and  sincere  efforts  will  not  be  very  welcome 
to  northern  recusants,  while  its  doctrines  will  of  course  be 
abhorrent  to  that  chivalrous  region  where  slavery  is  deemed 
an  ornament  and  a  privilege.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Barrows 
may  console  himself  with  having  borne  his  testimony  to 
the  truth. 

Pleasure  and  Profit,  vol.  1,  or  The  Museum. 

By  Uncle  Arthur.     37|  cents. 

Pleasure  and  Profit,  vol.  2,  or  The  Boy's 
Friend.     By  Uncle  Arthur.     37J  cents. 

Pleasure  and  Profit,  vol.  3,  or  Mary  and 
Florence.     By  Uncle  Arthur.     37|  cents. 

Missionary  Remains,  or  Sketches  of  Evarts, 
Cornelius,  and  Wisner.  By  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D. 
and  others.     37|  cents. 

Advice  to  a  Brother.  By  a  Missionary.  Price 
31  cents. 

Early  Piety.     By  Rev.  Jacob  Abbott.     18|  cents. 

Scripture  Gems.     Morocco,  gilt.     .25  cents. 

Sermons  by  Rev.  Charles  G.  Finney.  With  a 
Portrait.     $1    00. 

The  Works  of  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Clark. 

In  three  volumes.    $3  00. 


Prevailing   Prayev.     By  Rev.  C.  G.  Finney. 
32mo.     25  cents. 


The  National  Preacher,  printed  in  an  ele- 
gant pamphlet  form,  each  number  containing  two  Sermons 
from  living  Ministers.  Monthly.  Edited  by  Rev.  Austin 
Dickinson.     Price  one  dollar  a  year  in  advance. 

Also  Publisher  of 

The  Cabinet  of  Freedom.     Under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Hon.  William  Jay,  Rev.  Prof.  Bush,  of 
the  University  of  New- York,  and  Gerrit  Smith,  Esq 
Terms,  two  dollars  per  annum,  payable  in  advance. 

Also  Agent  for 

The  Sabbath  Scliool  Visiter,  published  by 
the  Massachusetts  Sabbath  School  Society.  Edited  by 
Rev.  Asa  Bullard,  Boston.    50  cents. 

Also  Agent  for 

The   Missionary  Herald.    Published  for  the 
'American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
Monthly.     $1  50  a  year. 

Also  Publisher  of 
The  JVaval  Magazine.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  C.  S. 

Stewart,  M.  A.  of  the  U.  S.  Navy.    $3  00  a  year,  payable 
in  advance. 

J.  S.  T.  has  also  a  large  and  choice  selection  of  Mis- 
cellaneous works,  suitable  for  Sunday  School  Libraries; 
together  with  Theological,  Classical,  Moral,  and  Religious 
Books,  Stationary,  &c.  all  of  which  he  will  sell  at  the  low- 
est prices. 

A  constant  supply  of  the  Publications  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Sabbath  School  Society,  the  America?/.  Sunday  School 


Union,  and  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday  School 
Union,  at  the  same  prices  as  sold  at  their  respective  Depo- 
sitories. 

N.  B.  Orders  from  the  country  will  be  immediately 
attended  to,  and  books  forwarded  according  to  directions. 
Should  the  selection  of  books  for  Sunday  Schools  be  left 
with  J.  S.  T.,  and  he  should  forward  any  which  should  not 
suit  the  purchaser,  they  may  be  returned,  and  the  money 
will  be  refunded,  or  other  books  given  in  exchange.  Those 
wishing  to  purchase,  are  invited  to  call  and  examine  his 
stock. 


„„c«on  Theological  S'™nar»-SP j "  jjfffi 


11012  01147  7470 


